The sixth film in the series was initially planned as a prequel to the original series, with younger actors portraying the crew of the Enterprise while attending Starfleet Academy, but the idea was discarded because of negative reaction from the original cast and the fans. Faced with producing a new film in time for Star Trek's 25th anniversary, Nicholas Meyer, the director of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and Denny Martin Flinn wrote a script based on a suggestion from Leonard Nimoy about what would happen if "the Wall came down in space", touching on the contemporary events of the Cold War.

Principal photography took place between April and September 1991, the production budget was smaller than anticipated because of the critical and commercial disappointment of The Final Frontier. Because of a lack of sound stage space on the Paramount lot, many scenes were filmed around Hollywood. Meyer and cinematographer Hiro Narita aimed for a darker and more dramatic mood, subtly altering sets originally used for the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. Producer Steven-Charles Jaffe led a second unit that filmed on an Alaskan glacier that stood in for a Klingon gulag. Cliff Eidelman produced the film's score, which is intentionally darker than previous Star Trek offerings.

The film was released in North America on December 6, 1991. The Undiscovered Country garnered positive reviews, with publications praising the lighthearted acting and facetious references. The film performed strongly at the box office, it posted the largest opening weekend gross of the series before going on to earn $96,888,996 worldwide.[3] The film earned two Academy Award nominations, for Best Makeup and Best Sound Effects, and is the only Star Trek movie to win the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film. A special collectors' edition DVD version of the film was released in 2004, to which Meyer had made minor alterations. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry died shortly before the movie's premiere, just days after viewing the film.

The USS Excelsior weathers the shock wave generated by the explosion of Praxis.[4]

Praxis, a Klingon moon, explodes without warning, the starship USS Excelsior, commanded by Captain Hikaru Sulu, is struck by the shock wave and its crew discovers that much of the moon has been obliterated. The loss of their key energy production facility and the destruction of the Klingon homeworld's ozone layer throws the Klingon Empire into turmoil. No longer able to maintain a hostile footing, the Klingons sue for peace with their longstanding enemy, the United Federation of Planets. Accepting the proposal before the Klingons revert to a more belligerent approach, Starfleet sends the USS Enterprise-A to meet with the Klingon Chancellor, Gorkon, and escort him to negotiations on Earth. Enterprise's captain, James T. Kirk, whose son David was murdered by Klingons years earlier, opposes the negotiations and resents his assignment.

After a rendezvous between Enterprise and Gorkon's battlecruiser they continue towards Earth, with the crews sharing a tense meal aboard Enterprise. Later that night, Enterprise appears to fire on the Klingon ship with a pair of photon torpedoes, disabling the artificial gravity aboard the Klingon vessel, during the confusion, two figures wearing Starfleet spacesuits and gravity boots beam aboard the Klingon ship and grievously wound Gorkon before beaming away. Kirk surrenders to avoid armed conflict, and beams aboard the Klingon ship with Doctor Leonard McCoy to attempt to save Gorkon's life, the chancellor dies, and Gorkon's chief of staff, General Chang, has Kirk and McCoy arrested and put on trial for his assassination. The pair are found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment on the frozen asteroid Rura Penthe. Gorkon's daughter, Azetbur, becomes the new chancellor, and continues diplomatic negotiations; for reasons of security, the conference is relocated and the new location is kept secret. While several senior Starfleet officers want to rescue Kirk and McCoy, the Federation President refuses to risk full-scale war. Azetbur likewise refuses to invade Federation space, stating that only Kirk will pay for her father's death.

Kirk and McCoy arrive at the Rura Penthe mines and are befriended by a shapeshifter named Martia, who offers them an escape route; in reality, it is a ruse to make their arranged deaths appear accidental. Once her betrayal is revealed, Martia transforms into Kirk's double and fights him, but she is killed by the prison guards to silence any witnesses. Just before the prison warden reveals who set them up, Kirk and McCoy are beamed aboard Enterprise by Captain Spock, who had assumed command and undertaken an investigation in Kirk's absence. Determining that Enterprise did not fire the torpedoes but that the assassins are still aboard, the crew has begun a search for them, the two assassins are found dead, but Kirk and Spock trick their accomplice into believing they are still alive. When the culprit arrives in sick bay to finish off the assassins, Kirk and Spock discover that the killer is Spock's protégé, Valeris. To discover the identity of the conspirators, Spock initiates a forced mind-meld, and learns that a group of Federation, Klingon, and Romulan officers plotted to sabotage the peace talks, fearing the changes their success might bring the titular "undiscovered country" (the future), and that Chang is one of the conspirators. The torpedoes that struck Gorkon's cruiser came from a prototype Bird of Prey that can fire while cloaked, and hovered just below Enterprise at the time of the assassination.

The crew contacts Captain Sulu, who informs them the conference is being held at Camp Khitomer. Both ships head for the talks as fast as they can, as Enterprise nears the planet, Chang's cloaked Bird of Prey moves to intercept. With Enterprise unable to track his ship's position, Chang inflicts severe damage on Enterprise and then Excelsior, at the suggestion of Uhura, the Enterprise's communications officer, Spock and McCoy modify a photon torpedo to home in on the exhaust emissions of Chang's vessel, using equipment originally intended to study gaseous anomalies. The torpedo impact reveals Chang's location, and Enterprise and Excelsior destroy the Bird of Prey with a volley of torpedoes. Crew from both ships beam to the conference and halt an attempt on the Federation President's life. Kirk pleads for those present to continue the peace process. Having saved the peace talks, Kirk and crew are contacted by Sulu, who bids farewell to his old friends and the Excelsior departs. Enterprise is ordered back to Earth by Starfleet Command to be decommissioned, but the crew decide to take their time on the return voyage. As Enterprise cruises towards a nearby star, Kirk proclaims that though this mission is the final cruise of Enterprise under his command, others will continue their voyages.[5]

The Undiscovered Country's cast includes the final group appearance of the main actors from the original television series. Casting director Mary Jo Slater loaded the film with as many Hollywood stars as the production could afford, including a minor appearance by Christian Slater, her son, as an Excelsior officer; Cinefantastique considered the cameo a likely attempt to lure younger audiences. Meyer was interested in casting actors who could project and articulate feelings, even through alien makeup.[6] Producer Ralph Winter said, "We were not looking for someone to say 'Okay, I'll do it', but people who were excited by the material [...] and would treat it as if it was the biggest picture ever being made."[7]

William Shatner plays Captain James T. Kirk; Shatner felt that though dramatic, the script made Kirk look too prejudiced.[8] Kirk's second-in-command, the Vulcan Spock, is portrayed by Leonard Nimoy. DeForest Kelley plays Leonard McCoy, the chief medical officer of the Enterprise; Kelley's appearance as the doctor in The Undiscovered Country was to be his last screen role. With Leonard Nimoy the film's executive producer, the 71-year-old Kelley was paid US$1 million for the role, assuring a comfortable retirement for the veteran actor.[9] Kelley and Shatner shot their prison scenes over the course of six to eight nights; the two actors got to know each other better than they ever had.[10]

Other members of the Enterprise crew include James Doohan as chief engineer Montgomery Scott, Walter Koenig as navigator Pavel Chekov, and Nichelle Nichols as Uhura, the communications officer. Uhura was supposed to give a dramatic speech in Klingon during the film, but midway through production the element was scrapped and a scene where Uhura is speaking garbled Klingon, surrounded by books, was added for extra humour. Nichols protested the scene, wondering why there were still books in the 23rd century, but accepted the change since it would be the last Star Trek film she would appear in.[11] Nichols was more uncomfortable with some of the dialogue's racial undertones, her character was originally to speak the line, "Guess who's coming to dinner," as the Klingons arrive on the Enterprise, but refused to say the part and it was given to Koenig's character instead.[12] Nichols also refused to say the line "yes, but would you like your daughter to marry one [a Klingon]", and it was dropped from the film altogether.[8]George Takei also returned as former helmsman Hikaru Sulu, though his character is now commander of the USS Excelsior, which includes former Enterprise yeoman Janice Rand (again played by Grace Lee Whitney) as a communications officer.

Kim Cattrall plays Valeris, the Enterprise's new helmsman and the first Vulcan to graduate at the top of her class at Starfleet Academy. Valeris becomes the protégé of Captain Spock, who intends her to be his replacement. Initially, the character of Saavik, who appeared in the second through fourth Star Trek films, was intended to be the traitor, but Gene Roddenberry objected to making a character loved by fans into a villain. Cattrall was unwilling to be the third actress to play Saavik (a part she had originally auditioned for), but accepted the role when she became a different character.[13] Cattrall chose the Eris element of the character's name, for the Greek goddess of strife, which was Vulcanised by the addition of the "Val" at the behest of director Nicholas Meyer.[14]Cinefantastique reported that during filming, Cattrall participated in a photo shoot on the empty Enterprise bridge, where she wore nothing but her Vulcan ears. The story claimed Nimoy personally ripped up all of the photographs and negatives when he learned about the unauthorized photo session, because he feared harm to the franchise if it ever came to light.[15]

Christopher Plummer had worked with Shatner in radio plays and requested a more human look for his character, involving wearing "less severe" Klingon make-up.[16]

The main Klingons are portrayed by Christopher Plummer as Chang, David Warner as Gorkon, and Rosanna DeSoto as Azetbur. Plummer and Shatner had performed together in various productions in Montreal.[17] Meyer wrote the role for Plummer, who was initially reluctant to accept it,[8] the role of Gorkon was initially offered to Jack Palance.[6] Warner had appeared in Meyer's first film, the 1979 science-fiction film Time After Time, and had played a human ambassador in The Final Frontier,[13] the actor's make-up was made to resemble Abraham Lincoln,[16] as another way of humanizing the otherwise alien Klingon leader.[18] When filming his character's death, a large lamp exploded and rained down in pieces on Warner and Kelley; one heavy piece barely missed striking Warner's head, which Kelley was sure would have killed him.[19]

Iman plays the role of Martia, a shapeshifting alien on the prison planet Rura Penthe who leads Kirk and McCoy into a trap. When Flinn originally developed the character, he had in mind a space pirate which he described as the "dark side of Han Solo". Flinn imagined an actress like Sigourney Weaver in the role, who was "as different as night and day" from Iman.[7] Meyer described Martia as "Kirk's dream woman", and when the makeup artists learned Iman was cast for the role they decided to enhance her graceful bird-like appearance with feathers. Yellow contact lenses completed the look.[20]

Other Starfleet officers include Brock Peters as Fleet Admiral Cartwright, a high-ranking officer in Starfleet who vehemently protests Klingon entry into Federation space. Peters had previously appeared as Cartwright in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Director Nicholas Meyer chose Peters for Star Trek VI partly based on his acting as the wrongly convicted black man Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird. Meyer thought that Cartwright's vitriolic speech would be particularly chilling and meaningful coming from the mouth of a recognized minority, the content of the speech was so repugnant to Peters that he was unable to deliver it in one take.[8] Peters later went on to play Joseph Sisko, father of Benjamin Sisko in the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. John Schuck also reprised his Voyage Home role as a Klingon ambassador. Kurtwood Smith appeared as the Federation President. René Auberjonois plays Colonel West, the would-be assassin of the Federation President. Meyer was a friend of Auberjonois and offered him a chance to cameo months before filming, his part was cut from the theatrical version but reinstated on home video.[21] Auberjonois would later portray security chief Odo on the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Also, in a nod to the Next Generation series, Michael Dorn plays Colonel Worf, an ancestor of his Worf character who defends Kirk and McCoy at their trial.

The Final Frontier, the previous film in the series, was a critical and financial disappointment; the cast and crew were worried that the franchise would not be able to recover from the blow.[8] With the looming 25th anniversary of the original series in 1991, producer Harve Bennett revisited an idea Ralph Winter had for the fourth film: a prequel featuring young versions of Kirk and Spock at Starfleet Academy. The prequel was designed to be a way of keeping the characters, if not the actors, in what was called "Top Gun in outer space".[8] Bennett and The Final Frontier writer David Loughery wrote a script entitled The Academy Years, where Dr. Leonard McCoy talks about how he met Kirk and Spock while addressing a group of Academy graduates. The script shows Kirk and Spock's upbringing, their meeting McCoy and Montgomery Scott at the Academy and defeating a villain before parting ways, the script would have established that George Kirk, James T. Kirk's father, was a pilot who went missing—presumed dead—during a warp experiment with Scott, the script is set before the "enlightenment" of the Federation; slavery and racism are common, with Spock being bullied because he is the only Vulcan student. Nurse Christine Chapel cameos in the script's climax.[22]

Walter Koenig wrote a story outline for the sixth film where all the Enterprise crew members except Spock and McCoy are killed

Actor James Doohan claimed that Paramount chief Frank Mancuso had fired Bennett following negative reaction from the core cast, Roddenberry, and fans.[15] Bennett claimed that after he rewrote the script to include Shatner and Nimoy, Paramount had still rejected it and that he decided it was time he left the franchise,[23] he said, "My term was up. I was offered $1.5 million to do Star Trek VI and I said 'Thanks, I don't want to do that. I want to do the Academy.'"[15] Actor Walter Koenig approached Mancuso with a new script outline codenamed "In Flanders Fields"; in it, the Romulans join the Federation and go to war with the Klingons. The Enterprise crew, except Spock, are forced to retire for not meeting fitness tests. When Spock and his new crew are captured by a monstrous worm-like race of aliens (which Koenig described as "things that the monsters in Aliens evolved from"), the old crew must rescue them; in the end, all of the characters except McCoy and Spock die.[24]

Nimoy visited Meyer's house and suggested, "[What if] the wall comes down in outer space? You know, the Klingons have always been our stand-ins for the Russians..." Meyer recalled that he replied "'Oh, wait a minute! Okay, we start with an intergalactic Chernobyl! Big explosion! We got no more Klingon Empire...!' And I just spilled out the whole story!" The story deliberately included references to the contemporary political climate; the character of Gorkon was based on Mikhail Gorbachev,[28] while the assassination storyline was Meyer's idea. He thought it was plausible that the Klingon leader who turned soft towards the enemy would be killed like similar peacemakers throughout history: Anwar El Sadat, Gandhi, and Abraham Lincoln.[29] Nimoy's hiring of Meyer was not only beneficial because Meyer knew the material and could write fast (having produced The Wrath of Khan's screenplay in twelve days),[30] but if Meyer was to direct it would offset any acrimony from Shatner, whose ire would have been aroused if Nimoy returned to direct his third Star Trek feature after The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home.[27] Meyer said that when he started work on the screenplay it did not occur to him that he would direct the film. Meyer's wife was the first person to suggest that he should direct.[31]

Meyer and his friend Denny Martin Flinn wrote the screenplay by the nascent means of e-mail; Meyer lived in Europe while Flinn was based in Los Angeles. The pair worked out a system where Flinn would write all day and then send the draft to Meyer, who would read and make revisions, the script constantly changed because of demands made not only by the core cast, but also the supporting players.[27] Flinn was aware that the film would be the last to feature the cast of the original television series, so he wrote an opening that embraced the passage of time; in the opening, each of the crew was to be rounded up out of unhappy retirement for one final mission.

Flinn recalled that "the scenes demonstrated who [the characters] were and what they did when they weren't on the Enterprise. [...] It added some humanity to the characters.[15] In early drafts, Spock plays Polonius in a Vulcan version of Hamlet, while Sulu drives a taxicab in an overcrowded metropolis,[13] the revised opening featured Captain Sulu bringing his friends out of their retirement: Spock's whereabouts are classified; Kirk was to have married Carol Marcus (played by Bibi Besch in The Wrath of Khan), the mother of his late son, leading a settled life before a special envoy arrives at his door. McCoy is drunk at a posh medical dinner; Scott is teaching Engineering while the Bird of Prey from The Voyage Home is pulled from San Francisco Bay; Uhura hosts a call-in radio show and is glad to escape; and Chekov is playing chess at a club.[32]

The opening was rejected as too expensive to film;[8] Flinn mentioned the exotic locales would have pushed the budget to $50 million.[18] While they tried to hold on to the opening as long as they could, Paramount threatened to cancel pre-production unless a few million dollars were cut from the budget.[32]

The script was finished by October 1990, five months after Nimoy was approached to write the story. Several months were spent working out the budget; because of the disappointing box office returns of The Final Frontier, Paramount wanted to keep the sixth film's budget approximately the same as the previous installment, although the script called for space battles and new aliens.[26] Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley's salaries were cut with the understanding that they would share in box office profits. Meyer estimated that almost two months were spent fighting with the studio about the budget. "To some degree, almost every area of the production was affected by the cuts—but the script was the one thing that did not become a casualty," Meyer said.[33] The original budget hovered around $41 million. While not expensive for a Hollywood production, this would have presented a risk due to Star Trek films' niche audience and lower international appeal, the final budget came in at $27 million.[2]

Star Trek's creator, Gene Roddenberry, who wielded significant influence despite his ill health, hated the script.[34] Meyer's first meeting with Roddenberry resulted in Meyer storming out of the room within five minutes, as with Meyer's previous Star Trek film (The Wrath of Khan), the script had strong military overtones, with a naval theme present throughout. Far from being idealized, the characters were shown as bigoted and flawed; in contrast to Roddenberry's vision of the future, Meyer thought there was no evidence that bigotry would disappear by the 23rd century.[18] When Roddenberry protested about the villainization of Saavik, Meyer replied that "I created Saavik, she was not Gene's. If he doesn't like what I plan on doing with her, maybe he should give back the money he's made off my films. Maybe then I'll care what he has to say."[19] After the stormy first meeting, a group including Meyer, Roddenberry, and producer Ralph Winter discussed the revised draft. Roddenberry would voice his disapproval of elements of the script line by line, and he and Meyer would square off about them while Winter took notes. Overall, the tone of the meeting was conciliatory, but the producers ultimately ignored many of Roddenberry's concerns.[35] By February 13, 1991, the film was officially put into production with the agreement it would be in theaters by the end of the year.[26]

As he had when he directed The Wrath of Khan, Meyer attempted to modify the look of Star Trek to fit his vision. Cinematographer Hiro Narita's previous work had been on effects films such as The Rocketeer, where he had time and money to make a lavish period fantasy; with The Undiscovered Country, he was constantly under time and budgetary pressures.[36] Though Narita confessed that he knew nothing about Star Trek, Meyer replied that he did not want him to have any preconceived notions about the look of the series.[8]

Effects supervisor Scott Farrar said that Narita did a "good job of keeping [the set] dark. When you get into a stage situation of aluminum walls and shiny metal, it can be a problem, but by keeping the light down, you see a little less and it becomes more textural. Hiro was very keen to avoid that over-bright stage look."[4] The budget meant that many of the Enterprise sets were redresses of those used in Star Trek: The Next Generation.[16] Meyer and production designer Herman Zimmerman were only able to make minor adjustments to these sets, as the television series was still in production at the time of filming.

The set used for Spock's quarters was the same as the one for Kirk's, but with the addition of a central column, the set was being used at the time for Data's room in The Next Generation, and had originally been built as Kirk's quarters for Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979.[13] The transporter room set was also reused from The Next Generation, with alterations that included the addition of a glowing pattern along the transporter's walls inspired by one of Zimmerman's sweaters; the set had previously been used on The Final Frontier. The galley was the set used for Deanna Troi's office, the dining hall was a redress of the USS Enterprise-D's Observation lounge, and the Federation president's office was a redesign of the Ten-Forward lounge, the exterior doors to which accidentally retained their Enterprise-D markings. Alien costumes in the Rura Penthe prison were reused from The Next Generation's premiere episode, "Encounter at Farpoint",[13] the Excelsior bridge was a redress of Enterprise's command center, with consoles taken from the battle bridge of the Enterprise-D to convey the impression that the Excelsior was a more advanced ship.[13]

Meyer had never been happy with the brightly lit corridors and feel of the Enterprise, a dissatisfaction that extended to his work on The Wrath of Khan,[37] for The Undiscovered Country, Meyer wanted the Enterprise interiors to feel grittier and more realistic; the metal was worn around the edges to look used without looking beat up.[8] Narita's plans to transform the look of the Enterprise on a scale not seen since The Wrath of Khan were complicated by the necessary use of existing sets.[38]

The corridors were reduced in width and included angled bulkhead dividers, with exposed conduits added to the ceiling to convey a claustrophobic feel reminiscent of the submarine film The Hunt for Red October.[39] Narita changed the bright, smooth look of the Enterprise bridge that had been created by Zimmerman for The Final Frontier by lighting the set as spottily as possible. "I didn't want to use too much smoke on the Enterprise, because I didn't want it to end up looking too much like the Klingon starship. For that reason I decided to keep the look of the Enterprise pretty clean, but with a little more contrasty lighting," Narita said.[38] Meyer acknowledged that had he been the creator of the franchise, "I would have probably designed a much more claustrophobic world because it's much more dramatic."[40]

The director was insistent that panel labels contain descriptive instructions that might be found on a starship, rather than made-up gibberish, greeking, or gag text. Designer Michael Okuda had finished a schematic of the Enterprise's decks when Nimoy pointed out he had misspelled "reclamation"; while Okuda was fairly certain no one else would notice the single spelling error on the print, he had to fix it.[8] Meyer also made a contentious decision to feature a kitchen in the film, a move that attracted fan controversy, although the original series mentioned a galley in the episode "Charlie X", only machines able to synthesize food had been shown before.[16]

Paramount made a decision early on to use existing ship models for filming, meaning the old models—some more than a decade old—had to be refurbished, adapted, and reused, as some ships had not been examined for some time, electrical problems had developed.[41] The Klingon cruiser first seen in 1979's The Motion Picture was altered to suggest an important flagship, with a flared design applied to the underside of the vessel.[13] Effects supervisor William George wanted to make it distinct from the earlier ships, since it was one of the few models that could be altered: "We did some research into military costuming, and came up with the concept that when these ships return victorious from battle, the Klingons build some sort of epaulet onto their wings or paint a new stripe on." The model was repainted brown and red and etched with brass.[42]

Despite representing a new vessel, the Enterprise-A was the same model that had been used since 1979. Poorly regarded by earlier effects artists because of its complicated wiring and bulk,[43] the Enterprise's hairline cracks were puttied and sanded down, and the internal circuitry was redone. The new model's running lights were matched to similar intensities, saving the effects artists time because the lights would look correct with only a single pass, instead of three passes required previously (for the sensor dome, running lights, and window lights). One unfortunate byproduct of the fixes was the loss of the model's distinctive pearlescent finish, the elaborate sheen was never visible on screen (lighting schemes prevented reflections while filming so the ship could be properly inserted into effects shots) and so when the model was repainted with conventional techniques the effect was lost.[41] The Bird of Prey had been damaged from work in The Voyage Home, where the ship was supposed to fly around the sun. To suggest singes, the model had been painted with black-tinged rubber cement, with the expectation that this application would rub off, the cement instead sat on the model and baked itself to the model surface, and had to be scrubbed off.[44]

Greg Jein, best known as the builder of the alien mothership from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, was called on to build props for the film. Jein was a longtime Star Trek fan who had constructed the props for The Final Frontier, but was forced to remake props that had since mysteriously disappeared.[45] Jein added references to the original television series and other science fiction franchises throughout the prop designs; the Rura Penthe warden's staff contained parts of a spaceship from Buck Rogers, while the frong was detailed with a prop from Buckaroo Banzai. Elements from The Final Frontier were modified and reused; a medical implement from the film became Chekov's blood tester, and the assault phasers first seen in The Final Frontier became standard issue.[46] Gorkon's staff was intended to be a massive bone from an alien creature he had killed, with the designs shaped out of green foam and approved by Meyer. Two copies were strong enough to support David Warner's weight; another two were designed to be light enough to be hung from wires for the zero gravity scenes. Since the Klingon phasers were redesigned for the third film, the original holsters no longer fit the weaponry; as a result, no Klingons had ever been seen drawing a phaser. Meyer was adamant about having the actors be able to unholster their weapons, so the existing pistols had to be redesigned, the Klingon sniper rifle was broken into sections, with parts modeled from real weapons.[47]

The Klingons received the first major revision in design since their appearance in The Motion Picture. Dodie Shepard designed new red and black uniforms for Chancellor Gorkon and his staff, as it was judged that it would be unseemly for the chancellor to wear common warrior garb. Another concern was that there was not enough of designer Robert Fletcher's The Motion Picture uniforms for all the Klingons in the film.[13] While the important Klingons were given multi-layered prosthetics and unique head ridges, background characters wore ready-made masks, with minor touch-ups on the eyes and mouth,[48] since it was important for the actors' expressions to be visible through the makeup, the appliances were made thin using the latest glues and paints. Transforming an actor into a Klingon took three and a half hours. Hairstylist Jan Alexander designed braids and jewelry that suggested a tribal people with a long and treasured heritage.[37]

The main reason for the diversity of Klingon designs, hairstyles, and appliances stemmed from the fact that there were more Klingons featured than in all the previous films combined. Eighteen unique designs were used for the main characters, with another thirty "A" makeups, forty "B" foam latex makeups, and fifty polyurethane plastic masks for background extras.[49] Makeup artist Richard Snell was in charge of the principal Klingon actors' appliances, the designs for the foreheads came from Snell's own ideas and co-workers, but the actors were also allowed input into their character's appearances. Christopher Plummer requested his character's forehead have more subdued spinal ridges than Klingons in previous films, to look unique and to humanize his character, during makeup tests, Snell was about to apply Plummer's wig when the actor muttered that he wanted no wig, with Chang's small amount of hair swept back into a warrior's topknot.[50]

Snell worked through several nights to redesign the back of Chang's head and add more detail,[51] this design change meant only Plummer's front could be photographed during the first few days of filming while the makeup department created appliances to cover the back of his head.[16] Azetbur, portrayed by Rosanna DeSoto, was initially conceived as barbaric, but Meyer insisted on a more refined look.[50] Like Plummer, DeSoto requested more subdued ridges, and the result was, according to artist Kenny Myers, a "very regal woman who just happened to be Klingon".

The design changes forced Kenny Myers to abdicate his other makeup job, that of Warner's Gorkon, to Margaret Bessera. Gorkon's appearance was of special concern to Meyer, who had two specific role models: Ahab and Abraham Lincoln. "[Meyer] loves to play the classics," Kenny Myers explained, "and incorporating these two images was really genius on his part. He wanted there to be uncertainty about Gorkon's true intentions. Did he want peace, or was there something sinister in his mind? From his appearance, it was impossible to tell if he was friend or foe. Subliminally, there were aspects of both."[44]

Along with Klingon cosmetics, makeup supervisor Michael J. Mills was kept busy preparing the large number of other aliens called for in the script.[41] Mills and his team created the largest makeup endeavor ever seen in a Star Trek film until then; custom makeup was applied to 22 principal actors, and as many as 126 prosthetic makeups each day. Because the alien creatures played such an important role in the film, there was a concerted push to provide enough money to the makeup department to make sure the complex work was finished. According to Mills, "[if] we could prove to [Ralph Winter] that we needed something to get the shot done, then we'd have it." The makeup lab employed a staff of 25 and produced over 300 prosthetics, from Klingon foreheads to Vulcan and Romulan ears.[52] Work on the many extras began as early as one o'clock in the morning to be ready for the eight o'clock call.[37]

The large, hulking form the shapeshifter Martia assumes while on the surface of Rura Penthe was dubbed "The Brute" by the production team, the creature's Yeti-like appearance was based on a Smithsonian cover of a marmoset. Also created for the Rura Penthe shoot was a frozen Klingon with a horrified expression. Makeup artist Ed French found a spare Klingon headpiece in Richard Snell's possession and attached it to his own head.[52] A cast of his tortured expression was used as the foundation for the dummy used on location, the designers used striking colors and new techniques for some of the aliens; ultraviolet pigments were used to create a particularly hostile alien that fights Kirk in Rura Penthe.[53]

As it was intended to be Nimoy's last portrayal of Spock, the actor was adamant that his appearance be faithful to the original 1960s Fred Phillips and Charlie Schram design of the character. Mills consulted photos from the original television series as reference, and created five ear sculptings before Nimoy was satisfied, the result was tall ears with the tips pointing forward—considerably different from Richard Snell's swept-back look for The Voyage Home. The character of Valeris was designed to be more ivory-hued than Spock's yellow tone, with sleeker eyebrows and a severe haircut favored by Meyer. "We went to great pains to establish that this is the way a Vulcan woman—a sexy Vulcan woman—would look," said Mills.[37]

Principal photography took place between April 16, 1991 and September 27, 1991,[25] using a mix of fixed sets and on-location footage. The production suffered from a lack of available set space because of shortages; the Starfleet Headquarters set was actually built a few blocks away from Paramount Pictures at the Hollywood Presbyterian Church.[13] Meyer copied a technique used during filming of Citizen Kane, where the filmmakers let the set fall into darkness to save money on construction,[18] the film was shot in Super 35 instead of anamorphic format, because of the former's greater flexibility in framing and lens selection, larger depth of field, and faster lenses.[6]

Because of budget cuts, plans for filming were constantly revised and reduced, but sometimes this proved to be an asset rather than a hindrance. Meyer would often say that "art thrives on restrictions", and Zimmerman agreed, saying that the design and filming created a rich environment that supported and enhanced the action.[54]

The dinner scene was shot in a revamped version of the Enterprise-D's observation lounge. Along the wall are portraits of historical figures including Abraham Lincoln, Spock's father Sarek (Mark Lenard), and an unnamed Andorian ambassador.[13] The food prepared for the scene was colored blue so it would look alien. None of the actors wanted to eat the unappetizing dishes (especially after they grew ripe under hot studio lights),[13] and it became a running joke among the crew during filming to make them sample their food.[8]

Because of the multiple angles and takes required for a single mouthful of food, Meyer offered a bounty of $20 per every shot of a character eating, for Shatner, the incentive was enough that he became the only cast member to consume purple-dyed squid. The shoot lasted several days because of what Plummer called the "horror" of filming the dinner.[8]

The Klingon courtroom where Kirk and McCoy are sentenced was designed like an arena, with high walls and a central platform for the accused. Originally planned for construction on the largest soundstage, cutbacks in location footage for Rura Penthe forced a smaller set to be constructed.[54] Sixty-six Klingons were used for the scene, with six actors in custom makeups and an additional fifteen in "A-level" makeup; the high quality designs were used for the Klingons in the first row of the stands, while those actors to the rear used masks.

The illusion of endless rows of Klingons was created by brightly lighting the accused in the center of the room with a bright blue light, then letting the rest of the set fall into shadow.[55] To give the set a larger appearance, a shot from high above the courtroom was created using miniatures. Inspired by a scene in Ben-Hur, matte supervisor Craig Barron used two hundred commercially available Worf dolls sent by Ralph Winter. Angry Klingons were created by rocking the dolls back and forth with motors, waving sticks lit by twelve-volt light bulbs dyed red, the resulting courtroom miniature was ten feet long.[56]

Glaciers to the east of Anchorage like this one were used to provide dramatic scope to Kirk and McCoy's escape.[13]

Flinn conceived the penal colony Rura Penthe as on an arid, undeveloped world with odorous aliens; Meyer suggested that it be turned into an ice world instead. The exterior shots of Martia, Kirk, and McCoy traveling across the frozen wastes were filmed on top of a glacier in Alaska, forty minutes east of Anchorage, because of budget and time constraints, the second unit was tasked with getting the footage.[37] The location was accessible only by helicopter, and was scouted months before filming began.

The main problem the crew faced was the cold; in the morning, the temperatures peaked at around −22 °F, while by mid-afternoon it often dropped to −50°. The stuntmen, dressed in woolen costumes, were in danger of catching pneumonia.[13] Ice caverns producer Jaffe had scouted partially melted before filming; with only two-and-a-third days of time to film, the crew had to do the best they could. Batteries drained after minutes of filming in the cold, and the lack of snow was compensated by dropping fake precipitation into the scene by helicopter.[37]

Scenes featuring the main characters at Rura Penthe were filmed on a soundstage. Massive fans blew dusty fake snow that, according to Shatner, got into "every orifice", as well as into the camera. Creating a fake blizzard was challenging; two types of plastic snow were mixed together to provide flakes and powdery accumulation. Camera magazines were changed off the stage so that there was no chance the snow could get into the film; crewmembers found the snow in their socks for weeks afterwards.[57]

The underground prison was shot in real caves left by mining at Griffith Park,[13] in the Bronson Canyon, previously used as the Batcave and in the 1930s Flash Gordon serial. Shots of the interior of the mine were captured at night so it appeared like the setting was underground, since Narita and his crew weren't allowed to drill holes for lights in mine shafts, illumination had to come from practical lights that appeared to be part of the set.[57] The elevator descent into the bowels of the mine was simulated by pasting fake rocks to a canvas being cranked in the background of the scene. While Zimmerman believed Shatner would hate the fight between Kirk and his doppelgänger, the actor enjoyed the theatrical sequence, and contributed to the choreography with his knowledge of judo and karate.[8]

The battle above Khitomer was one of the last sequences to be shot, which proved fortuitous as the bridge of the Enterprise was damaged by the simulated sparks and explosions, the officer's mess set was blown up for a sequence where the Enterprise's hull is compromised by a torpedo. When the set was rebuilt for use on The Next Generation, the forward wall was rebuilt and redesigned. While the Khitomer conference interior and exteriors were filmed at the Brandeis-Bardin Institute in California, the window from which Colonel West prepares to assassinate the president was a separate set built at Paramount. Footage from Brandeis, matte paintings, and the backlot were combined to create an open outdoor view.[13]

The division of labor for shooting the starship models was decided early on by effects cameramen Peter Daulton and Pat Sweeney. There was an equal amount of work if one crew did all the Enterprise shots and another did the Bird of Prey, Klingon cruiser and Excelsior shots, so the cameramen flipped to decide who worked on which models. Old and new techniques were applied to shooting the models. To make sure the vessels were seamlessly inserted into star fields in post-production, the crew filmed second passes in overexposed yellow light, which reduced light spillage onto the bluescreen backdrop, the yellow overcast was removed by filtration in the optical process, with the result being a clean edge around the ships.[58]

Using a technique pioneered on Back to the Future Part II, another shot with a different lighting scheme was filmed. By combining separate key light and fill light passes, optical effects could generate any amount of contrast they wanted without causing spillage, because Paramount continued to add new shots to the busy schedule and tight budget, some elements were flipped for reuse, including the star fields and a shot of the Bird of Prey firing.[50] Whenever possible, the ships were filmed from below to reinforce the nautical theme, with their movements intended to remind the audience of galleons or other large seafaring vessels.[59]

The approach to Spacedock was filmed from below the station model, which Bill George found visually interesting and appropriate, he felt that the tracking of a shuttle from the planet evoked 2001: A Space Odyssey. The shuttle used in the scene was the only new model created for the film, it measured twelve inches and was fabricated in less than a week. The shot of the Enterprise leaving Spacedock was difficult to produce because the interior dock miniature had disappeared. Stock footage from The Voyage Home was used for one shot to compensate, since the only other shot needed was the Enterprise's point of view leaving Spacedock through the doors, it was the only section recreated for the film.[58]

The last scene in the film was arranged for the last day of filming. Initially, the language was supposed to be more somber and classical, but Meyer made some last minute changes. Flinn said that Meyer "was in an optimistic mood", and the director suggested that Kirk quote Peter Pan for the last lines:[60] "Second star to the right, and straight on till morning." Emotions ran high as the last shots of the cast were captured;[8] Shatner said, "By the time we finished the last scene, which extended longer than we expected, there was a sense of irritation. We raised a glass of champagne, but everybody was actually a little antsy."[25]

The majority of the visual effects were created by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) under the supervision of Scott Farrar (who served as visual effects cameraman on the first three Star Trek films) and animator Wes Takahashi.[61] After receiving the script, ILM created storyboards for the effects sequences before meeting Meyer and producers Winter and Steven-Charles Jaffe to discuss the planned scenes, these discussions began before the film was greenlit. ILM's initial cost estimates were over Paramount's budget, so to save money the filmmakers redesigned some shots and outsourced some to other companies.

Elements of the zero gravity scenes were handled by Pacific Data Images, while phaser beams and transporter effects were generated by Visual Concept Engineering, an offshoot of ILM that had contributed to The Wrath of Khan and The Final Frontier. Despite the overall count of effects shots being dropped from over 100 to 51, the project was still large, and required virtually the entire ILM staff to complete.[62] Farrar's goal was to economize the remaining effects; if three shots were similar, they would try to tell the story with only one. Cheap animatics provided Meyer with placeholders to cut into the film and avoid costly surprises.[33] Stock footage from previous films were used whenever possible, but it was often unfeasible to do so; as the original USS Enterprise had been destroyed in The Search for Spock, all shots of the USS Enterprise-A had to feature the updated ship registry.[41]

ILM's computer graphics division was responsible for creating three sequences, including the explosion of Praxis.[4] Meyer's idea for the effect was influenced by The Poseidon Adventure; Farrar used imagery of an immense wave hitting the Poseidon to inform the scale of their shock wave.[59] The department built on a lens flare simulation to create a plasma burst composed of two expanding disc shapes with swirling detail texture mapped to the surface.

Farrar settled on the preliminary look of the wave, and graphics supervisor Jay Riddle used Adobe Photoshop on a Macintosh to establish the final color scheme. Initially the team thought they would be able to use the same methods to create the wave that hits the Excelsior, but found that it did not convey the scale of the wave—in Riddle's words, "this thing had to look really enormous." The shot was created by manipulating two curved pieces of computer geometry, expanding them as they approached the camera's view. Textures that changed every frame were added to the main wave body and over the top of it to give the impression of great speed.[4] Motion control footage of the Excelsior was then scanned into the computer system and made to interact with the digital wave.[41] ILM's "Praxis effect" shockwave became a common feature in science fiction films depicting the destruction of large objects.[63]

Meyer came upon the idea of having assassins in special boots kill a weightless Gorkon after searching for a novel way to "blow away" the character in space that had not been seen before,[8] the final sequence married physical effects and stuntwork with computer graphics. Responsibility for shooting the live action footage fell to the second unit under Jaffe's direction. While the sequence read well on paper, there was not enough time or money to do the effects "the right way"—for example, shooting the actors on a bluescreen and then inserting them into the Klingon corridors.

Jaffe noted that the low-tech method of suspending actors by wires helped the final effect, because as photographed by John Fante, few wires had to be removed digitally in post-production;[44] sets were constructed so that the harsh lighting obscured wires, and entire sets were constructed on their sides so that by pulling actors up and down on the rotated sets, the characters appeared to float sideways. These sets were on gimbals so that the movement of the actors and sets created a floating effect, the shot of two Klingons killed and thrown back down a corridor by phaser blasts was simulated by positioning the camera at the bottom of a corridor set. The set was placed on its end in the tallest soundstage at Paramount, so that the camera looked up towards the ceiling; in this position, the wires were hidden by the actors as they ascended the corridor.[8]

A "weightless" Klingon is thrown back into a bulkhead, spurting violet blood. In reality, the sets were rotated 90 degrees to give the illusion of the actor floating horizontally; the digitally animated blood globules were added in post-production.

The blood that spurts out of the Klingon's wounds was created using computer generated imagery; the animators had to make sure that the blood floated in a convincing manner while still looking interesting and not too gory.[59] The effects artist looked at NASA footage of floating globules of water to inform the physics of the blood particles. Initially, the blood was to be colored green, but the filmmakers realized that McCoy had referred to Spock as green-blooded.

The final color was violet, a color Meyer disliked but had to go ahead with, because his first choice—red—would almost certainly earn the film an "R" rating from the MPAA,[18] the initial killing of the Klingon in the transporter room as the assassins beam aboard was the testing ground for tweaking the color of the blood and how it would move around the room. Most of the blood droplets were "blobbies", groups of spheres smoothed together by computer, creating a continuous shape, the further apart the spheres, the more the shape could stretch and even break apart. The phasers used in the scene and throughout the film were redesigned versions of earlier models and were first used in The Final Frontier, the props featured blue lights that turned on when the trigger was pressed, so effects artists knew when to add the phaser beam effects.

For the zero gravity sequences, the ILM team matched Visual Concepts Engineering's phaser blasts by hand-painting the effect in Photoshop.[44] ILM also did minor touchup to the scenes as required, adding clothing tears where the phaser blasts hit the actors and adding the hazy Klingon atmosphere to the computer-rendered objects,[56] these zero gravity scenes were the most expensive sequences to complete.[13]

Rura Penthe was created with a mixture of on-set and location shots, along with an establishing sequence created by Matte World, the characters were shot on a San Francisco beach, with a white plastic underfoot. Sun elements were layered onto the shot along with a double-exposed snow effect. Additional passes were made on fiberfill clouds with lights behind them to create a lightning storm underway in the background.[53]

Martia was not the first shapeshifter on Star Trek, but the character was the first to be created using computer-generated digital morphing technology,[13] the effects, dubbed "morfs", were more advanced revisions of the technology used for films such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Animator John Berton attempted new, more complicated morfs, including moving the camera and morphing two characters talking; special care had to be taken to line up the characters properly in plate photography. Martia becomes Kirk while talking, requiring similar line deliveries from Iman and Shatner; Farrar supervised the set photography for the morfs and had the actors speak their lines in sync via a loudspeaker.[59]

Kirk's fight scene with Martia in the form of Kirk was mostly filmed with a double dressed in similar clothes; in the majority of the shots the camera allowed only one of the combatants' faces to be seen. When Kirk talked with his double directly, two separate takes of Shatner facing opposite directions were combined, with the camera motion carefully controlled so that the resulting image looked realistic.[13]

For the final space battle, Bill George redesigned the photon torpedoes to have a hotter core and larger flare, because he felt that the weapons in earlier films looked "too pretty",[64] the torpedoes also moved like guided missiles rather than cannonballs. George told Farrar that he had always wanted to see something penetrate the thin saucer section of the Enterprise, so a replica of the saucer was recreated and blown up; the model was hung upside down so that the explosion could be flipped to approximate the zero gravity effects. Rather than destroy the Bird of Prey model in the climax, pyrotechnic footage was reduced and placed in the appropriate locations to simulate rippling explosions throughout the vessel.

A special "pyro model" was created from a rubber cast of the Bird of Prey and exploded instead, with a lap dissolve making the transition from the motion control ship to the pyro vessel. ILM knew that there was already footage of Chang reacting to the torpedo hit, but knew Meyer was unhappy with the result. Using footage of Plummer as reference, the effects team created a dummy that was detonated in the same position. Steve Jaffe said, "[Editor] Ron Roose and I pored through the footage to find what amounted to three usable frames that we could use to tell the audience 'we got him!'"[65]

Meyer's original plan for the score was to adapt Gustav Holst's orchestral suite The Planets, the plan proved unfeasibly expensive, so Meyer began listening to demo tapes submitted by composers.[66] Meyer described most of the demos as generic "movie music", but was intrigued by one tape by a young composer named Cliff Eidelman. Eidelman, then 26, had made a career in composing for ballets, television, and film, but despite work on fourteen features, no film had been the hit needed to propel Eidelman to greater fame.[67]

In conversations with Eidelman, Meyer mentioned that since the marches that accompanied the main titles for the previous Star Trek films were so good, he had no desire to compete with them by composing a bombastic opening, he also felt that since the film was darker than its predecessors, it demanded something different musically as a result. He mentioned the opening to Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird as similar to the foreboding sound he wanted. Two days later Eidelman produced a tape of his idea for the main theme, played on a synthesizer. Meyer was impressed by the speed of the work and the close fit to his vision.[66] Meyer approached producer Steven Charles-Jaffe with Eidelman's CD, which reminded Jaffe of Bernard Herrmann; Eidelman was given the task of composing the score.[8]

Eidelman's previous project had been creating a compilation of music from the past five Star Trek films, and he consciously avoided taking inspiration from those scores. "[The compilation] showed me what to stay away from, because I couldn't do James Horner [composer for The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock] as well as James Horner," he said.[68] Since he was hired early on in production, Eidelman had an unusually long time to develop his ideas, and he was able to visit the sets during filming. While the film was in early production Eidelman worked on electronic drafts of the final score, to placate executives who were unsure about using a relatively unknown composer.[68]

Eidelman stated that he finds science fiction the most interesting and exciting genre to compose for, and that Meyer told him to treat the film as a fresh start, rather than drawing on old Star Trek themes.[8] Eidelman wanted the music to aid the visuals; for Rura Penthe, he strove to create an atmosphere that reflected the alien and dangerous setting, introducing exotic instruments for color. Besides using percussion from around the world, Eidelman treated the choir as percussion, with the Klingon language translation for "to be, or not to be" ("taH pagh, taHbe") being repeated in the background. Spock's theme was designed to be an ethereal counterpart to the motif for Kirk and the Enterprise, aimed at capturing "the emotional gleam in the captain's eye".[69] Kirk's internal dilemma about what the future holds was echoed in the main theme: "It's Kirk taking control one last time and as he looks out into the stars he has the spark again [...] But there's an unresolved note, because it's very important that he doesn't trust the Klingons. He doesn't want to go on this trip even though the spark is there that overtook him."[70] For the climactic battle, Eidelman starts the music quietly, building the intensity as the battle progresses.[8]

The soundtrack was released on December 10, 1991 through MCA Records and features thirteen tracks of score with a running time of forty-five minutes; in 2005, a bootleg copy of the soundtrack also surfaced with thirty-six tracks of score and a running time of nearly seventy minutes.[71]Intrada Records released a two-disc set in 2012. The first disc is made up of the complete score and four extra cues, the second disc contains the material from the original MCA release.[72]

The Undiscovered Country's Cold War allegory and references to literary history were recognized among researchers and cultural historians. According to scholar Larry Kreitzer, The Undiscovered Country has more references to William Shakespeare than any other Star Trek work until at least 1996.[73] The title itself alludes to Hamlet, Act III, Scene 1.[74] Meyer had originally intended The Wrath of Khan to be called The Undiscovered Country.[75] Whereas the undiscovered country referred to in Hamlet (and its intended meaning in The Wrath of Khan) is death, Star Trek VI's use of the phrase refers to a future where Klingons and humans coexist in peace.[76]

A phrase from The Tempest is mentioned by Gorkon as representing the new galactic order, that of a "brave new world". Chang recites most of the lines from Shakespeare used in the film, including quotes from Romeo and Juliet and Henry IV, Part 2 in his parting words to Kirk after dinner, during Kirk's trial, Chang also mocks Kirk with lines from Richard II. The final battle above Khitomer contains seven references to five of Shakespeare's plays.[73] Two references are drawn from the title character's lines in King Henry V ("Once more unto the breach"/"The game's afoot"), while two more quotations are from Julius Caesar ("I am as constant as the Northern Star"/"Cry 'havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war"). There is a single reference to Prospero from The Tempest ("Our revels now are ended"), and Chang shortens the wronged Shylock's speech from The Merchant of Venice: "Tickle us, do we not laugh; prick us, do we not bleed; and wrong us, shall we not revenge?"

The final lines spoken by Chang before he is obliterated by torpedo fire are lifted from Hamlet's famous soliloquy: "to be, or not to be..."[77] Flinn was initially unsure about the numerous classical quotations, but when Plummer was cast, Meyer enthusiastically added more, he said, "Whether it's pretentious or not, I think it depends on how it's used. [...] I don't quite agree with using too much of that sort of thing, but once you get Plummer, suddenly it's working."[7]

Scholars have noted that the Klingons, not humans, are the ones who quote Shakespeare; Gorkon claims at one point in the film that "You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon."[78] Translating Shakespeare into Klingon proved problematic because Marc Okrand had not created a verb for "to be" when he developed the language.[18] Shakespeare scholar Paul A. Cantor argues that this association is appropriate—the warlike Klingons find their literary matches in the characters Othello, Mark Antony, and Macbeth—but that it also reinforces a claim that the end of the Cold War means the end of heroic literature such as Shakespeare's.[79] Meyer said the idea for having the Klingons claim Shakespeare as their own was based on Nazi Germany's attempt to claim the Bard as German before World War II.[18] According to Kay Smith, the use of Shakespeare has meaning in itself and also derives new meaning (underscoring cultural politics in the film) by its rearticulation in a new form.[80]

The association of General Chang with the politics of the Munich Agreement that involved attempted appeasement of Nazi Germany are brought up twice in the film, the first is with Chang with other Klingon officials at a dinner with Kirk and Federation officers, where Chang declares that the Klingon Empire needs "breathing room", to which Kirk responds by imitating Spock's earlier quoting of Hamlet, saying that Chang's reference is "Earth, Hitler, 1938". Later when Kirk confronts Chang's warship, Chang mocks the historic British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain who attempted to appease Hitler; with Chang saying that there will be "no peace in our time".

A major theme of the film is change, and people's response to that change. Meyer considered Valeris and Chang "frightened people, who are frightened of change", who cling to old ways despite the changing world, he hoped that the fictionalization of a current events story allowed for an objective look at the issues, rather than being blinded by personal bias. At the beginning of the film, Kirk operates under a similar bias, calling the Klingons "animals" and putting him at odds with Spock, the Vulcan sees the Gorkon peace initiative as logical, responding to the sudden change in the status quo in a collected manner;[81] he even opens the peace dialog at the behest of his father.

Kirk, meanwhile, is willing to "let them (the Klingons) die", unwilling to listen to Spock's words because of his biased understanding.[81] Kirk undergoes a transformation through the film by way of his incarceration; realizing that his hatred is outmoded he allows for a cleansing that restores his son to him in some way.[29]

While Star Trek in general features few overt references to religion, there is a clear recognition that a laying aside of past hurts is necessary for peace, similar to the concept of shalom in Judaism.[82] Shatner regretted that Kirk's angst at being outmoded was minimized in the final print. A scene where Spock asks Kirk if they have grown so old and inflexible they have outlived their usefulness had two meanings: it was as much Nimoy asking Shatner as it was their characters.[8]

The Undiscovered Country was released in North America on December 6, 1991. The film was initially planned for release a week later on December 13.[31] To promote the film and the 25th anniversary of Star Trek, Paramount held marathon screenings of the previous five films in 44 select U.S. and Canadian cities. The 12-hour showings also included footage of The Undiscovered Country,[83] the day before the film's release, the core cast was inducted into Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and signed their names on Hollywood Boulevard.[84] Nimoy, who had earlier requested $1 million to cameo on The Next Generation, appeared in the two-part episode "Unification" that aired during November 1991 to increase interest in the feature film.[7] The previous five films were released in collectors' box sets with new packaging; retailers were offered the chance to photograph their retail setups for a chance to win an expenses-paid tour of The Next Generation's set and tickets to an advance screening of The Undiscovered Country.[85]

Roddenberry did not live to see the film's release, dying of heart failure on October 24, 1991, before the film's release he viewed a near-final version of The Undiscovered Country, and according to the film's producer and Kelley's biographer, approved a final version of the film.[86] In contrast, Nimoy and Shatner's memoirs report that after the screening he called his lawyer and demanded a quarter of the scenes be cut; the producers refused, and within 48 hours he was dead.[87] Paramount considered spending close to $240,000 to send Roddenberry's ashes into space—a move that had the backing of fans—but decided against it;[88] his remains would make it into space along with 22 others in 1997.[89] The film's opening included a note to Roddenberry's memory; at early showings, the crowds of Star Trek fans applauded loudly.[90] While the producers had begun work on the film anticipating it as the last film, by the premiere it was obvious the film would make money and that a Star Trek VII would soon be in the works,[91] the cast was split on the possibility of a sequel; Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley said that the film would be their last, while the supporting cast strongly lobbied for another film. The consensus was for the next film to star the cast of The Next Generation,[92][93] the seventh Star Trek feature, Star Trek Generations (1994), would blend the old and new cast.

The Undiscovered Country opened in 1,804 theaters in North America and grossed $18,162,837 in its opening weekend; the showing was a record for the film series and was the top-grossing film of the weekend.[94] The film grossed $74,888,996 in North America, for a total of $96,888,996 worldwide.[3]The Undiscovered Country's strong showing was one of the big successes of 1991, a year in which the film industry experienced disappointing box office results overall.[95] The film was nominated in the Sound effects editing and Makeup categories at the 64th Academy Awards,[96] the film also won a Saturn Award for best science fiction film, making it the only Star Trek film to win the award.[97] The film's novelization by J.M. Dillard was also a commercial success, reaching the Publishers Weekly mass market paperback bestsellers list.[98]

The Undiscovered Country received a much kinder reception from reviewers and audiences than The Final Frontier.[99] Critics approved of the blend of humor and adventure in the film.[100][101] Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 84% of critics have given the film positive reviews, based upon a sample of 48, with an average score of 6.8/10.[102]

The Herald Sun reported that "those who found The Final Frontier weighed down by emotional gravity and over-the-top spiritualism [welcomed] the follow-up with its suspense, action and subtle good humor."[103] The dialogue and banter was considered a positive and defining aspect of the film; Janet Maslin of The New York Times said that "Star Trek VI is definitely colorful, but even more of its color comes from conversation, which can take some amusingly florid turns."[101] Critic Hal Hinson commented that Meyer "[is] capable of sending up his material without cheapening it or disrupting our belief in the reality of his yarn," and called the one-liners an organic part of the film's "jocular, tongue-in-cheek spirit".[104] Susan Wloszczyna of USA Today said that with Meyer directing, "this last mission gets almost everything right—from the nod to late creator Gene Roddenberry to in-jokes about Kirk's rep as an alien babe magnet."[105]

The acting of the main cast was conflictingly received. Lloyd Miller of the St. Petersburg Times said the characters "return to their original roles with a vigor and wit unseen in earlier episodes of the film series".[106] Rob Salem of The Toronto Star quipped that though the actors looked silly on occasion, this was a benefit; "as their capacity for action has diminished, their comedic talents have blossomed [...] they have all become masters of self-deprecating self-parody."[107]The Boston Globe's Matthew Gilbert called the actors' performances "photocopies" of previous films: "Shatner and Nimoy are respectable, but lack energy. There's nowhere else to go with their roles, and they know it. DeForest Kelley is oddly out of it."[108] Plummer and Warner's portrayals of their Klingon characters were well-received; Maslin commented that "whenever a skilled actor [...] manages to emerge from behind all this [makeup] with his personality intact, it's a notable accomplishment." The other supporting characters received similar praise;[108][109] H.J. Kirchhoff, writing for The Globe and Mail, said that the guest stars joined the "family fun" of the film as "zesty, exotic and colorful good guys and bad guys".[110] A Cinefantastique retrospective review considered the film to have the finest guest stars ever assembled for a Star Trek film.[111]

The Cold War allegory and the whodunit aspects of the film were less positively received. Mary Boson of the Sydney Morning Herald considered the comparisons to real-world situations timely, and praised the plot for exploring the reactions of those who have invested themselves in a life of belligerence.[112] David Sterritt of The Christian Science Monitor felt that the film veered away from the intriguing Cold War allegory premise to unsatisfying results.[113] Instead of maintaining suspense, The Washington Times's Gary Arnold noted the Rura Penthe sideplot offered "scenic distraction without contributing significantly to the whodunit crisis [...] The crime itself has a promising 'closed-room' aspect that never gets elaborated adequately [...] You look forward to a cleverly fabricated solution." Arnold felt that instead of developing this mystery, the filmmakers defused the potential for suspense by shifting away from the search of the Enterprise.[114] Brian Lowry of Variety felt Rura Penthe dragged down the film's pace, and that Meyer paid so much attention to one-liners that there was a lack of tension in the film,[115] a complaint echoed by John Hartl of the Seattle Times.[116]

The special effects were alternately lauded and criticized; USA Today called them "just serviceable", though Wloszczyna's review for the paper said the Klingon assassination sequence was "dazzling", with "fuchsia blood spilling out in Dalí-esque blobs".[105] Desson Howe, writing for The Washington Post's Weekend section, said that "the Klingons' spilled blood floats in the air in eerily beautiful purplish globules; it's space-age Sam Peckinpah."[109] Maslin considered some effects garish, but appreciated the filmmakers' tirelessness "in trying to make their otherworldly characters look strange".[101]

The Undiscovered Country was released on VHS and in widescreen and pan and scan formats on Laserdisc in June 1992;[117] the release added a few minutes of new footage to the film.[118] Because of a trend in supermarket video sales and rentals, Paramount offered rebates for the home video release of The Undiscovered Country through boxes of Kellogg'sFrosted Mini-Wheats.[119] The Laserdisc version of the film was the tenth highest-selling video during 1992,[120] the home video cut was later released for the film's 1999 DVD debut.[118]

As with the other nine Star Trek films, The Undiscovered Country was re-released on DVD as a Special Edition in 2004. Meyer, who stated he dislikes director's cuts, nevertheless found "a couple of moments that I thought were not clear", and re-edited them as "I suddenly saw how to make them clear."[28] Among the elements added for home video were a briefing with the Federation president where Admiral Cartwright and Colonel West unveil their plan for rescuing Kirk and McCoy, and a scene where Spock and Scott inspect the torpedoes, some shots were reordered or replaced, with wide-angle shots replacing close angles and vice versa.[13] The special features included a commentary track with Meyer and Flinn, featurettes detailing the special effects, production, and historical inspiration of the film, and a tribute to actor DeForest Kelley.[111]

The film's original theatrical cut was released on Blu-ray Disc in May 2009 to coincide with the new Star Trek feature,[121] along with the other five films featuring the original crew in Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection.[122]The Undiscovered Country was remastered in 1080phigh-definition from the 2000 DVD transfer. The film, like the others in the set, features 7.1 Dolby TrueHD audio. The disc also contains a new commentary track by Star Trek screenwriters Larry Nemecek and Ira Steven Behr.[123]

^Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet: Act III, Scene I". Bartleby.com. Retrieved October 3, 2008.—"Hamlet: But that the dread of something after death/The undiscovered country from whose bourn/No traveller returns, puzzles the will/And makes us rather bear those ills we have/Than fly to others that we know not of?"

^Sarantakes, Nicholas Evan (2005). "Cold War Pop Culture and the Image of US Foreign Policy: The Perspective of the Original Star Trek Series". Journal of Cold War Studies. 7 (4): 101. doi:10.1162/1520397055012488.

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Nicholas Meyer
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For adapting a screenplay from his own novel for The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, Meyer was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He has also nominated for a Satellite Award, three Emmy Awards, and has won four Saturn Awards. Meyer was born in New York City, New York, to a Jewish family and he is the son of Elly, a concert pianist, and Bernard Constant Meyer, a Manhattan psychoanalyst. Meyer graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in theater and filmmaking, Meyer first gained public attention for his best-selling 1974 Sherlock Holmes novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, a story of Holmes confronting his cocaine addiction with the help of Sigmund Freud. Meyer followed this with two additional Holmes novels, The West End Horror, and The Canary Trainer, the Seven-Per-Cent Solution was later adapted as a 1976 film of the same name, for which Meyer wrote the screenplay. The film was directed by Herbert Ross and starred Nicol Williamson, Robert Duvall, Alan Arkin, for his work adapting the novel, Meyer was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 49th Academy Awards. Intrigued by the first part of college friend Karl Alexanders then-incomplete novel Time After Time, Meyer optioned the book and he consented to sell the script only if he were attached as director. The deal was optioned by Warner Bros. and the film became Meyers directorial debut, Meyer freely allowed Alexander to borrow from the screenplay. The latter published his novel at about the time the movie was released. Time After Time starred Malcolm McDowell, Mary Steenburgen and David Warner and it was a critical and commercial success. At the behest of then Paramount executive Karen Moore, Meyer was hired to direct Star Trek II, Meyer had originally decided not to do any television work, but changed his mind upon reading the script by Edward Hume. For his work on The Day After, Meyer was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Director, afterward, he also directed The Pied Piper of Hamelin, a 1985 episode of the television series Shelley Duvalls Faerie Tale Theatre. He resumed directing theatrical films with the 1985 comedy Volunteers, starring Tom Hanks, after directing Volunteers, Meyer returned to working on Star Trek, co-writing the screenplay for Star Trek IV, The Voyage Home with producer Harve Bennett. Meyers next directing job was the 1988 Merchant Ivory produced drama The Deceivers, Meyer later wrote and directed the 1991 spy comedy Company Business, starring Gene Hackman and Mikhail Baryshnikov as aging American and Russian secret agents. In 1991, Meyer once again returned to the world of Star Trek, co-writing and directing Star Trek VI, The Undiscovered Country, Meyer performed uncredited rewrites on an early draft of the screenplay of the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. Meyer adapted the Philip Roth novel The Human Stain into the 2003 film of the same name, in 2006, he teamed with Martin Scorsese to write the screenplay for Scorseses adaptation of Edmund Morriss Pulitzer Prize winning biography of Theodore Roosevelt, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. The story traces Roosevelts early life, Paramount had been unhappy with the creative direction of the first film, as well as the cost overruns and production problems. However, the film was also a financial success

2.
Leonard Nimoy
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Leonard Simon Nimoy was an American actor, film director, photographer, author, singer and songwriter. He was known for his role as Spock of the Star Trek franchise, foreshadowing his fame as a semi-alien, he played Narab, one of three Martian invaders, in the 1952 movie serial Zombies of the Stratosphere. The character has had a significant cultural impact and garnered Nimoy three Emmy Award nominations, TV Guide named Spock one of the 50 greatest TV characters. After the original Star Trek series, Nimoy starred in Mission, narrated Civilization IV, and made several well-received stage appearances. He also had a role in the science fiction series Fringe. Nimoys public profile as Spock was so strong that both of his autobiographies, I Am Not Spock and I Am Spock, were written from the viewpoint of sharing his existence with the character, in 2015 an asteroid was named 4864 Nimoy in his honor. In September 2016, For the Love of Spock, a documentary that covered his life. Leonard Simon Nimoy was born on March 26,1931, in the West End of Boston, Massachusetts and they reunited after arriving in the United States. His mother, Dora, was a homemaker, and his father, Max Nimoy and he had an elder brother, Melvin. He also began acting at the age of eight in a childrens, Nimoy also realized he had an aptitude for singing, which he developed while a member of his synagogues choir. His singing during his bar mitzvah at age 13 was so good that he was asked to repeat his performance the week at another synagogue. He is still the only man I know whose voice was two bar mitzvahs good and his first major role was at 17, as Ralphie in an amateur production of Clifford Odets Awake and Sing. Which dealt with the struggles of a matriarchal Jewish family similar to his during the Great Depression, playing this teenage kid in this Jewish family that was so much like mine was amazing, he said. The same dynamics, the tensions in the household. The role lit a passion that led him to pursue an acting career, I never wanted to do anything else. Shatner notes that Nimoy also worked on radio shows for children, often voice acting Bible stories, adding, Obviously. Many years later as Captain Kirk, I would be busy rescuing civilizations in distress on distant planets while Leonards Mr. Spock would be examining the morality of man– and alienkind. Nimoy took drama classes at Boston College, and after moving to Los Angeles and he took method actor Marlon Brando as a role model, and like him, wore jeans and T-shirt

3.
Star Trek: The Original Series
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Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship USS Enterprise and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of Star Trek, The Original Series to distinguish the show within the franchise that it began. The show is set in the Milky Way galaxy, roughly during the 2260s, the ship and crew are led by Captain James T. Kirk, first officer and science officer Spock, and chief medical officer Leonard McCoy. Shatners voice-over introduction during each episodes opening credits stated the purpose, Space. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise and its five-year mission, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before. The series was produced from September 1966 to December 1967 by Norway Productions and Desilu Productions, Star Trek aired on NBC from September 8,1966 to June 3,1969 and was actually seen first on September 6,1966, on Canadas CTV network. Star Treks Nielsen ratings while on NBC were low, and the network cancelled it after three seasons and 79 episodes. Several years later, the became a bona fide hit in broadcast syndication, remaining so throughout the 1970s, achieving cult classic status. The series contains significant elements of Space Western, as described by Gene Roddenberry, on March 11,1964, Gene Roddenberry, a long-time fan of science fiction, drafted a short treatment for a science-fiction television series that he called Star Trek. This was to be set on board a large interstellar spaceship S. S. Yorktown in the 23rd century, whose crew was dedicated to exploring a small portion of our galaxy. Some of the influences on his idea that Roddenberry noted included A. E. van Vogts tales of the spaceship Space Beagle, Eric Frank Russells Marathon series of stories, and the film Forbidden Planet. Roddenberry also drew heavily from C. S. Foresters Horatio Hornblower novels that depict a sea captain who exercises broad discretionary authority on distant sea missions of noble purpose. Roddenberry often humorously referred to Captain Kirk as Horatio Hornblower in Space, Roddenberry had extensive experience in writing for series about the Old West that had been popular television fare earlier in the 1960s and the 1950s. Armed with this background, the first draft deliberately characterizes the new show as Wagon Train to the stars. Like the familiar Wagon Train, each episode was to be an adventure story, set within the overarching structure of a continuing journey. With the notable exception of Star Trek, Deep Space Nine, all future television, in Roddenberrys original concept, the protagonist was Captain Robert April of the starship S. S. Yorktown. This character was developed into Captain Christopher Pike, first portrayed by Jeffrey Hunter, in April 1964, Roddenberry presented the Star Trek draft to Desilu Productions, a leading independent television production company. He met with Herb Solow, Desilus Director of Production, Solow saw promise in the idea and signed a three-year program-development contract with Roddenberry

4.
Gene Roddenberry
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Eugene Wesley Gene Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter and producer. He is best remembered for creating the original Star Trek television series, born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, where his father was a police officer. Roddenberry flew 89 combat missions in the Army Air Forces during World War II, later, he followed in his fathers footsteps and joined the Los Angeles Police Department, where he also began to write scripts for television. As a freelance writer, Roddenberry wrote scripts for Highway Patrol, Have Gun–Will Travel, in 1964, Roddenberry created Star Trek, which premiered in 1966 and ran for three seasons before being canceled. He then worked on projects, including a string of failed television pilots. The syndication of Star Trek led to its popularity, this, in turn, resulted in the Star Trek feature films, on which Roddenberry continued to produce. He continued to consult on the series until his death in 1991, years after his death, Roddenberry was one of the first humans to have his ashes carried into earth orbit. The popularity of the Star Trek universe and films has inspired films, books, comic books, video games, and fan films set in the Star Trek universe. Roddenberry was born on August 19,1921, in his parents rented home in El Paso, Texas, the family moved to Los Angeles in 1923 after Genes father passed the Civil Service test and was given a police commission there. During his childhood, Roddenberry was interested in reading, especially magazines, and was a fan of stories such as John Carter of Mars, Tarzan. Roddenberry majored in science at Los Angeles City College, where he began dating Eileen-Anita Rexroat. He obtained a license through the United States Army Air Corps-sponsored Civilian Pilot Training Program. He enlisted with the USAAC on December 18,1941, and he graduated from the USAAC on August 5,1942, when he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He was posted to Bellows Field, Oahu, to join the 394th Bomb Squadron, 5th Bombardment Group, of the Thirteenth Air Force, which flew the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. On August 2,1943, while flying out of Espiritu Santo, the plane Roddenberry was piloting overshot the runway by 500 feet and impacted trees, crushing the nose, the official report absolved Roddenberry of any responsibility. Roddenberry spent the remainder of his career in the United States. He was involved in a plane crash, this time as a passenger. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal, in 1945, Roddenberry began flying for Pan American World Airways, including routes from New York to Johannesburg or Calcutta, the two longest Pan Am routes at the time

5.
William Shatner
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William Shatner is a Canadian actor, author, producer, and director. In his seven decades of television, Shatner became an icon for his portrayal of James T. Kirk, Captain of the USS Enterprise. He has written a series of books chronicling his experiences playing Captain Kirk and being a part of Star Trek and he has written a series of science fiction novels called TekWar, which were adapted for television. Shatner also appeared in the NBC series, 3rd Rock from the Sun in seasons 4 and 5 as the role of the Big Giant Head whom the characters of the Series reported to. He has worked as a musician, an author, a director, and he starred as attorney Denny Crane in the final season of the legal drama The Practice and its spinoff series Boston Legal, a role that earned him two Emmy Awards. Shatner was born on March 22,1931, in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the son of Anne and Joseph Shatner and he has two sisters, Joy and Farla. His paternal grandfather, Wolf Schattner, anglicized the name to Shatner. All of Shatners grandparents were Jewish immigrants, and he was raised in Conservative Judaism, Shatner attended two schools in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Willingdon Elementary School and Westhill High School, and is an alumnus of the Montreal Childrens Theatre. He studied Economics at the McGill University Faculty of Management in Montreal, Canada, in June 2011, McGill University awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Letters. Shatner began performing at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, in 1954, he was cast as Ranger Bob on The Canadian Howdy Doody Show. Shatner was an understudy to Christopher Plummer, the two would appear as adversaries in Star Trek VI, The Undiscovered Country. Shatner had a role in an Alfred Hitchcock Presents third-season episode titled The Glass Eye. In 1959, he received good reviews when he played the role of Lomax in the Broadway production of The World of Suzie Wong. He appeared twice as Wayne Gorham in NBCs Outlaws Western series with Barton MacLane, in 1961, he starred in the Broadway play A Shot in the Dark with Julie Harris and directed by Harold Clurman. Walter Matthau and Gene Saks were also featured in this play, Shatner featured in two episodes of the NBC television series Thriller and the film The Explosive Generation. Guthrie had called the young Shatner the Stratford Festivals most promising actor, Shatner was not as successful as the others, however, and during the 1960s he became a working actor who showed up on time, knew his lines, worked cheap and always answered his phone. His motto was Work equals work, but Shatners willingness to take any role, no matter how forgettable, in the 1963–1964 season, he appeared in episodes of two ABC series, Channing and The Outer Limits. In 1963, he starred in the Family Theater production called The Soldier and that same year, he guest starred in Route 66, in the episode, Build Your Houses with Their Backs to the Sea

6.
DeForest Kelley
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Kelley was delivered by his uncle at his parents home in Toccoa, Georgia, the son of Clora and Ernest David Kelley, who was a Baptist minister. DeForest was named after the pioneering electronics engineer Lee de Forest and he later named his Star Trek characters father David after his own father. Kelley had a brother, Ernest Casey Kelley. Kelley was immersed in his fathers mission in Conyers and told his father that failure would mean wreck, before the end of his first year at Conyers, Kelley was regularly putting to use his musical talents and often sang solo in morning church services. Eventually, this led to an appearance on the radio station WSB AM in Atlanta, as a result of Kelleys radio work, he won an engagement with Lew Forbes and his orchestra at the Paramount Theater. In 1934, the family left Conyers for Decatur, Georgia and he attended the Decatur Boys High School, where he played on the Decatur Bantams baseball team. Kelley also played football and other sports, before his graduation in 1938, Kelley got a job as a drugstore car hop. He spent his weekends working in the local theaters, during World War II, Kelley served as an enlisted man in the United States Army Air Forces from March 10,1943 to January 28,1946, assigned to the First Motion Picture Unit. After an extended stay in Long Beach, California, Kelley decided to pursue a career and relocate to southern California permanently. He worked as an usher in a theater in order to earn enough money for the move. Kelleys mother encouraged her son in his new goal. While in California, Kelley was spotted by a Paramount Pictures scout while doing a United States Navy training film, Kelleys acting career began with the feature film Fear in the Night in 1947. The low-budget movie was a hit, bringing him to the attention of a national audience and his next role, in Variety Girl, established him as a leading actor and resulted in the founding of his first fan club. Kelley did not become a man, however, and he and his wife, Carolyn. He found work on stage and on television, but after three years in New York, the Kelleys returned to Hollywood. In California, he received a role in an installment of You Are There and he played ranch owner Bob Kitteridge in the 1949 episode Legion of Old Timers of the television series The Lone Ranger. This led to an appearance in Gunfight at the O. K. Corral as Morgan Earp and this role led to three movie offers, including Warlock with Henry Fonda and Anthony Quinn. In 1957, he had a role as a Southern officer in Raintree County

7.
James Doohan
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James Montgomery Jimmy Doohan was a Canadian actor and voice actor best known for his role as Montgomery Scotty Scott in the television and film series Star Trek. He also made contributions behind the scenes, such as development of the Klingon. After the war, he had extensive experience performing in radio and television, Doohan was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the youngest of four children of Sarah Frances and William Patrick Doohan, who both emigrated from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. His father, born in Belfast, was a pharmacist, veterinarian, and dentist, William Doohan owned a chemist shop in Main Street in Bangor, beside Trinity Presbyterian Church. Doohans father reportedly invented a form of high-octane gasoline in 1923. Doohans 1996 autobiography recounted his fathers serious alcoholism, Doohans paternal grandfather, Thomas Doohan, was Head Constable in the Royal Irish Constabulary. The family moved from Vancouver to Sarnia, Ontario, Doohan attended high school at the Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School, where he excelled in mathematics and science. He enrolled in the 102nd Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps in 1938, at the beginning of the Second World War, Doohan joined the Royal Canadian Artillery and was a member of the 14th Field Battery, 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. He was commissioned a lieutenant in the 14th Field Artillery Regiment of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and he was sent to England in 1940 for training. He first saw combat landing at Juno Beach on D-Day, shooting two snipers, Doohan led his men to higher ground through a field of anti-tank mines, where they took defensive positions for the night. The bullet to his chest was stopped by a cigarette case given to him by his brother. His right middle finger had to be amputated, something he would conceal during his career as an actor, all three Canadian RCAF squadrons were manned by artillery officer-pilots and accompanied by non-commissioned RCA and RCAF personnel serving as observers. Although he was never actually a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, in the late spring of 1945, on Salisbury Plain north of RAF Andover, he slalomed a plane between telegraph poles to prove it could be done—earning himself a serious reprimand. After the war, Doohan moved to London, Ontario for further technical education, after hearing a radio drama that he knew he could do better, he recorded his voice at the local radio station, and learned about a drama school in Toronto. There he won a scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, where his classmates included Leslie Nielsen, Tony Randall. In 1946, he had roles for CBC radio, starting January 12. For several years, he shuttled between Toronto and New York as work demanded and he estimated he performed in over 4,000 radio programs and 450 television programs during this period, and earned a reputation for versatility. In the mid-1950s, he appeared as forest ranger Timber Tom in the Canadian version of Howdy Doody, coincidentally, fellow Star Trek cast member William Shatner appeared simultaneously as Ranger Bill in the American version

8.
Walter Koenig
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Walter Marvin Koenig is an American actor, writer, teacher and director, known for his roles as Pavel Chekov in Star Trek and Alfred Bester in the Babylon 5 series. He wrote the script for the 2008 science fiction legal thriller InAlienable, Koenig was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of businessman Isadore Koenig and his wife Sarah. They moved to Manhattan when Walter was a child, where he went to school, Koenigs parents were Russian Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union, his family lived in Lithuania when they emigrated, and shortened their surname from Königsberg to Koenig. Koenigs father was a communist who was investigated by the FBI during the McCarthy era, Koenig attended Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa with a pre-med major. He transferred to UCLA and received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, after a professor encouraged Koenig to become an actor, he attended the Neighborhood Playhouse with fellow students Dabney Coleman, Christopher Lloyd, and James Caan. In Gene Roddenberrys first television production, the 1963-64 NBC series The Lieutenant, john Delwyn, who is recommended for Officer Candidates School by the series protagonist, Lt William T. Rice, played by Gary Lockwood. The plot twist, at the height of the US-Soviet Cold War, is that Sgt Delwyns visiting mother is a prominent and this sets up various interesting plot tensions involving Delwyn, Rice, and Rices CO, Capt. Rambridge, played by Robert Vaughn. Koenig played Ensign Pavel Chekov, navigator on the USS Enterprise, in the original Star Trek television series, one of only two actors to audition, he was cast as Chekov almost immediately primarily because of his resemblance to British actor/musician Davy Jones of the Monkees. Show creator Gene Roddenberry hoped that Koenig would increase the appeal to young people. As the 30-year olds hair was receding, costume designers fashioned a Davy Jones-style moptop hairpiece for him. In later episodes, his own hair grew out enough to accomplish the look with a comb-over, Roddenberry asked him to ham up his Russian accent to add a note of comic relief to the series. When the early Season 2 episodes of Star Trek were shot, George Takei was delayed while completing the movie The Green Berets, when Takei returned, the two had to share a dressing room and a single episode script. This reportedly angered Takei to the point where he left the show. He received Saturn Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor in a Film for both Star Trek II, The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek IV, The Voyage Home. According to the teaser for Renegades episodes 2 and 3, this will be the last time Koenig plays the role of Chekov, after Chekov, Koenig had a recurring role as Psi Cop Alfred Bester on the television series Babylon 5. He was a Special Guest Star in twelve episodes and, at the end of the third season and he was slated to play Bester on the spin-off series Crusade, but the series was cancelled before his episode was filmed. The character name of Alfred Bester was an homage to the writer of the same name. Koenig played Oro in two episodes of the Canadian science fiction television series The Starlost, which aired in 1973 on Canadas CTV television network and he filmed a few FMV sequences for a re-released copy of the game Star Trek Starfleet Academy for PCs

9.
Nichelle Nichols
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Nichelle Nichols is an American actress, singer and voice artist. She sang with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton before turning to acting, Nichols Star Trek character, one of the first African American female characters on American television not portrayed as a servant, was groundbreaking in U. S. society. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. asked her to remain when she considered leaving the series. Grace Dell Nichols was born in Robbins, Illinois, near Chicago, to Samuel Earl Nichols, later, the family moved into an apartment in Chicago. She studied in Chicago as well as New York and Los Angeles and her break came in an appearance in Kicks and Co. Oscar Browns highly touted, but ill-fated 1961 musical. In a thinly veiled satire of Playboy magazine, she played Hazel Sharpe, although the play closed after its brief try-out in Chicago, in an ironic twist, she attracted the attention of Hugh Hefner, the publisher of Playboy, who booked her for his Chicago Playboy Club. While still in Chicago, she performed at the Blue Angel and she also appeared in the role of Carmen for a Chicago stock company production of Carmen Jones and performed in a New York production of Porgy and Bess. Between acting and singing engagements, Nichols did occasional modeling work, in January 1967, Nichols also was featured on the cover of Ebony magazine, and had two feature articles in the publication in five years. Nichols toured the United States, Canada and Europe as a singer with the Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton bands. During the first year of the series, Nichols was tempted to leave the show, as she wanted to pursue a Broadway career, however, a conversation with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. changed her mind. She has said that King personally encouraged her to stay on the show, telling her that he was a big fan of Star Trek. He said she could not give up because she was playing a role model for black children and young women across the country. In an interview she said that the day after she told Roddenberry she planned to leave the show, Nichols said, I thought it was a Trekkie, and so I said, Sure. I looked across the room, and there was Dr. Martin Luther King walking towards me with this big grin on his face and he reached out to me and said, Yes, Ms. Nichols, I am your greatest fan. He said that Star Trek was the show that he. I never got to him why, because he said. When she told Roddenberry what King had said, he cried, former NASA astronaut Mae Jemison has cited Nichols role of Lieutenant Uhura as her inspiration for wanting to become an astronaut and Whoopi Goldberg has also spoken of Nichols influence. Goldberg asked for a role on Star Trek, The Next Generation, in her role as Lieutenant Uhura, Nichols famously kissed white actor William Shatner as Captain James T

10.
George Takei
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George Hosato Takei is an American actor, director, author, and activist of Japanese descent. Takei is best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS Enterprise in the television series Star Trek and he also portrayed the character in six Star Trek feature films and one episode of Star Trek, Voyager. Takeis involvement in media has brought him fresh attention. As of February 2017, his Facebook page has over 10 million likes since he joined in 2011, Takei is a proponent of LGBT rights and is active in state and local politics. He has won awards and accolades in his work on human rights and Japan–United States relations. His father was an Anglophile, and named him George after King George VI of the United Kingdom, whose coronation took place in 1937, shortly after Takeis birth. In 1942, the Takei family was forced to live in the horse stables of Santa Anita Park before being sent to the Rohwer War Relocation Center for internment in Rohwer. The family was transferred to the Tule Lake War Relocation Center in California. George Takei had several relatives living in Japan during World War II, among them, he had an aunt and infant cousin who lived in Hiroshima who were both killed during the atomic bombing that destroyed the city. In Takeis own words, my aunt and baby cousin found burnt in a ditch in Hiroshima, at the end of World War II, Takei and his family returned to Los Angeles. He attended Mount Vernon Junior High School, where he served as student body president at Los Angeles High School and he was a member of Boy Scout Troop 379 of the Koyasan Buddhist Temple. Upon graduation from school, Takei enrolled in the University of California. Later he attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in theater in 1960 and he attended the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-upon-Avon in England, and Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. In Hollywood, he studied acting at the Desilu Workshop, Takei began his career in Hollywood in the late 1950s, providing voiceover for characters in the English dub of the Japanese monster films Godzilla Raids Again a. k. a. Gigantis the Fire Monster, for the latter of which he recalled, here was one word that we had difficulty getting the meaning of. The Japanese word was bakayaro, which means stupid fool, the director, Takei said, had him use the phrase banana oil. He went on to appear in the television series Playhouse 90. He guest starred in the season fifth episode of Hawaiian Eye Thomas Jefferson Chu

11.
Kim Cattrall
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Kim Victoria Cattrall is an English-Canadian actress. She reprised the role in the films Sex and the City and Sex, Cattrall made her film debut in Otto Premingers 1975 film, Rosebud. She went on to star in the films, Porkys, Police Academy, Big Trouble in Little China, Mannequin, Masquerade, Star Trek VI, The Undiscovered Country. She also starred in the 1986 original Broadway production of Wild Honey, other stage credits include, Antony and Cleopatra at the Liverpool Playhouse, Private Lives on Broadway, and Sweet Bird of Youth at Londons Old Vic. Since 2014, she has starred in the HBO Canada series, Cattrall was born in Mossley Hill, Liverpool. Her mother, Gladys Shane, was a secretary, and her father, when she was three months old, her family migrated to Canada, settling in the city of Courtenay on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. At 11 she returned to England when her grandmother became ill and she took a number of acting examinations with the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, before returning to Canada at age 16 to finish high school. Cattrall began her career after graduating high school in 1972. There, she attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and she made her film debut in Premingers Rosebud in 1975. A year later Universal Studios bought out that contract and Cattrall became one of the last participants in the contract system of Universal before the system ended in 1980. The Universal systems representative in New York, Eleanor Kilgallen, cast Cattrall in numerous TV guest-star roles, One of the first jobs Kilgallen got her was in a 1977 episode of Quincy, M. E. starring Jack Klugman, whom Kilgallen also represented. She starred in The Bastard and The Rebels, two television mini-series based on the John Jakes novels of the same names. In 1979 she played the role of Dr. Gabrielle White in The Incredible Hulk and her work in television paid off and she quickly made the transition to cinema. The following year, she appeared in Ticket to Heaven, in 1982 Cattrall played P. E. teacher Miss Honeywell in Porkys, followed two years later by a role in the original Police Academy. In 1985 she starred in three films, Turk 182, City Limits and Hold-Up, the last with French star Jean-Paul Belmondo, in 1986, she played Kurt Russells brainy flame in the action film Big Trouble in Little China. In 1987, her role in Mannequin proved a huge success with audiences. Near the end of filming, Cattrall had a photographer shoot a roll of film on the Enterprise bridge set, in which she wore nothing, after finding out about the unauthorised photo session, Leonard Nimoy had the film destroyed. Aside from her work, Cattrall is also a stage actress, with performances in Arthur Millers A View from the Bridge and Anton Chekhovs Three Sisters

12.
David Warner (actor)
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He has a worldwide following for his many appearances in the Star Trek TV and feature-film franchise. In 1981, he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special for his portrayal of Pomponius Falco in the television miniseries Masada. Warner was born in Manchester, England, the son of Ada Doreen and Herbert Simon Warner and he was born out of wedlock and frequently taken to be brought up by each of his parents, eventually settling with his Russian Jewish father and his stepmother. He was educated at Feldon School, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire and trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London. In March 1962 at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, he played Conrad in Much Ado About Nothing, following which in June he appeared as Jim in Afore Night Come at the New Arts Theatre in London. At the Aldwych Theatre, London, in January 1964, he again played Henry VI in the complete The Wars of the Roses history cycle. Returning to Stratford in April, he performed the role in Richard II, Mouldy in Henry IV, Part 1. At the Aldwych in October 1964, he was cast as Valentine Brose in the play Eh. by Henry Livings and he first played the title role in Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in 1965. This production was transferred to the Aldwych Theatre in December of that year, in the 1966 Stratford season, his Hamlet was revived and he also played Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night. Finally at the Aldwych in January 1970, he played Julian in Tiny Alice, another early television role came when he starred alongside Bob Dylan in the 1963 play Madhouse on Castle Street. A major step in his career was the role in Morgan, A Suitable Case for Treatment opposite Vanessa Redgrave. In horror films, he appeared in one of the stories of From Beyond the Grave, opposite Gregory Peck in The Omen as the ill-fated photojournalist Keith Jennings, and he also starred in cult classic Waxwork, and featured alongside a young Viggo Mortensen in the 1990 film Tripwire. He was also cast against type as Henry Niles in Straw Dogs, in 1981, Warner received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special for Masada as Pomponius Falco. In 1988, he appeared in the Danny Huston film Mr. North, in 2001, he played Captain James Sawyer in two episodes of A&Es adaptation of C. S. Foresters Hornblower series. He appeared in three episodes of the season of Twin Peaks as Thomas Eckhardt. He also continues to play classical roles, in Chain of Command, a 6th-season episode of Star Trek, The Next Generation, he was a Cardassian interrogator. He based his portrayal on the evil re-educator from 1984 and his less-spectacular roles included a double-role in the low-budget fantasy Quest of the Delta Knights which was eventually spoofed on Mystery Science Theater 3000. He also played Admiral Tolwyn in the version of Wing Commander

13.
Christopher Plummer
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Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer CC is a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. After making his debut in Stage Struck, Plummer went on to a successful film career. Plummer has ventured into television projects, including the miniseries The Thorn Birds. Plummer has won awards and accolades for his work, including an Academy Award. With his win at age 82 in 2012 for Beginners, Plummer is the oldest actor ever to win an Academy Award and his fathers uncle was patent lawyer and agent F. B. Plummers parents were divorced shortly after his birth, and he was brought up at the Abbott family home in Senneville, Quebec and he is bilingual, speaking English and French fluently. Plummer is a cousin of actor Nigel Bruce, the British actor, best known as Doctor Watson to Basil Rathbones Sherlock Holmes. He had studied to be a concert pianist, but developed a love for the theatre at an early age and he began acting while he was living on Pine Avenue in Montreal and attending Montreal High. He attended McGill, at time he also took up acting. Whittaker, who was also stage director of the Montreal Repertory Theatre, cast Plummer, aged 18. Plummer made his Broadway debut in January 1953 in The Starcross Story and his next Broadway appearance, Home is the Hero, lasted 30 performances from September to October 1954. He appeared in support of Broadway legend Katharine Cornell and film legend Tyrone Power in The Dark is Light Enough, the play toured several cities, with Plummer serving as Powers understudy. Later that same year, he appeared in his first Broadway hit, Plummer appeared less frequently on Broadway in the 1960s as he moved from New York to London. From May to June 1973, he appeared on Broadway as the character in Cyrano. For that performance, Plummer won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, later that year, he played Anton Chekhov in Neil Simons adaptation of several Chekhov short stories, The Good Doctor. In the 1980s, he appeared on Broadway in two Shakespearean tragedies, Othello, playing Iago to James Earl Jones Moor, and the role in Macbeth with Glenda Jackson playing his lady. His Iago brought him another Tony nomination and he appeared with Jason Robards in the 1994 revival of Harold Pinters No Mans Land and had great success in 1997 in Barrymore, which he also toured with after a successful Broadway run. His turn as John Barrymore brought him his second Tony Award and he was nominated for a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his 2004 King Lear and for a Tony playing Henry Drummond in the 2007 revival of Inherit the Wind

14.
Hiro Narita
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Hiro Narita is a Japanese-American cinematographer. Narita was born in 1941, in Seoul, Korea to Japanese parents, in 1945, he and his family moved to Nara, Japan, and later to Tokyo. Following his fathers death and his mothers remarriage to a Japanese American, he immigrated in 1957 to Honolulu. He went on to the San Francisco Art Institute where he received a BFA in Graphic Design in 1964 and he quickly landed a good position at a prominent local design firm, but the job lasted barely six months before he was drafted into the U. S. Army. For two years, he served as a designer and photographer at the Pentagon, an avid movie fan since childhood, Narita decided to go into filmmaking rather than go back into graphic design upon his return to San Francisco in the mid-sixties. In 1976, he was one of the operators on Martin Scorseses documentary The Last Waltz about the last concert of The Band. Later, he worked on projects like Apocalypse Now, More American Graffiti, for his cinematography on the movie Never Cry Wolf he won the Boston Society of Film Critics Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award in 1983. In 1989, he photographed the Visual Effects in the Steven Spielberg film Always, in the following years, he was the Director of Photography on successful films like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Star Trek VI, The Undiscovered Country, Dirty Pictures, and The Rocketeer. Narita served as Director of Photography on the 1997 Live Action Short Film Academy Award winning Visas and he also directed the 1997 hour-long documentary film, Isamu Noguchi, Stones and Paper. He has taught at San Francisco Art Institute, lectured, and he is a member of American Society of Cinematographers and Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences. Hiro Narita at the Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers Hiro Narita at the Internet Movie Database

15.
Paramount Pictures
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Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film studio based in Hollywood, California, that has been a subsidiary of the American media conglomerate Viacom since 1994. In 1916, film producer Adolph Zukor contracted 22 actors and actresses and these fortunate few would become the first movie stars. Paramount Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America, in 2014, Paramount Pictures became the first major Hollywood studio to distribute all of its films in digital form only. Paramount is the fifth oldest surviving studio in the world after the French studios Gaumont Film Company and Pathé, followed by the Nordisk Film company. It is the last major film studio headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Paramount Pictures dates its existence from the 1912 founding date of the Famous Players Film Company, hungarian-born founder, Adolph Zukor, who had been an early investor in nickelodeons, saw that movies appealed mainly to working-class immigrants. With partners Daniel Frohman and Charles Frohman he planned to offer feature-length films that would appeal to the class by featuring the leading theatrical players of the time. By mid-1913, Famous Players had completed five films, and Zukor was on his way to success and its first film was Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth, which starred Sarah Bernhardt. That same year, another aspiring producer, Jesse L. Lasky, opened his Lasky Feature Play Company with money borrowed from his brother-in-law, Samuel Goldfish, the Lasky company hired as their first employee a stage director with virtually no film experience, Cecil B. DeMille, who would find a site in Hollywood, near Los Angeles, for his first feature film. Hodkinson and actor, director, producer Hobart Bosworth had started production of a series of Jack London movies, Paramount was the first successful nationwide distributor, until this time, films were sold on a statewide or regional basis which had proved costly to film producers. Also, Famous Players and Lasky were privately owned while Paramount was a corporation, in 1916, Zukor maneuvered a three-way merger of his Famous Players, the Lasky Company, and Paramount. Zukor and Lasky bought Hodkinson out of Paramount, and merged the three companies into one, with only the exhibitor-owned First National as a rival, Famous Players-Lasky and its Paramount Pictures soon dominated the business. It was this system that gave Paramount a leading position in the 1920s and 1930s, the driving force behind Paramounts rise was Zukor. In 1926, Zukor hired independent producer B. P. Schulberg and they purchased the Robert Brunton Studios, a 26-acre facility at 5451 Marathon Street for US$1 million. In 1927, Famous Players-Lasky took the name Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation, three years later, because of the importance of the Publix Theatres, it became Paramount Publix Corporation. In 1928, Paramount began releasing Inkwell Imps, animated cartoons produced by Max, the Fleischers, veterans in the animation industry, were among the few animation producers capable of challenging the prominence of Walt Disney. The Paramount newsreel series Paramount News ran from 1927 to 1957, Paramount was also one of the first Hollywood studios to release what were known at that time as talkies, and in 1929, released their first musical, Innocents of Paris

16.
Science fiction film
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Science fiction films have often been used to focus on political or social issues, and to explore philosophical issues like the human condition. The genre has existed since the years of silent cinema. The next major example in the genre was the film Metropolis - being the first feature length science fiction movie, from the 1930s to the 1950s, the genre consisted mainly of low-budget B movies. After Stanley Kubricks landmark 2001, A Space Odyssey, the fiction film genre was taken more seriously. This definition suggests a continuum between empiricism and transcendentalism, with science fiction film on the side of empiricism, and horror film, however, there are numerous well-known examples of science fiction horror films, epitomized by such pictures as Frankenstein and Alien. The visual style of fiction film can be characterized by a clash between alien and familiar images. This clash is implemented when alien images become familiar, as in A Clockwork Orange, as well, familiar images become alien, as in the films Repo Man and Liquid Sky. For example, in Dr. Strangelove, the, distortion of the make the familiar images seem more alien. Finally, alien and familiar images are juxtaposed, as in The Deadly Mantis, Science fiction films appeared early in the silent film era, typically as short films shot in black and white, sometimes with colour tinting. They usually had a theme and were often intended to be humorous. In 1902, Georges Méliès released Le Voyage dans la Lune, generally considered the first science fiction film, several early films merged the science fiction and horror genres. Examples of this are Frankenstein, a adaptation of Mary Shelleys novel. Taking a more adventurous tack,20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a based on Jules Verne’s famous novel of a wondrous submarine. In the 1920s, European filmmakers tended to use science fiction for prediction and social commentary, as can be seen in German films such as Metropolis and Frau im Mond. In the 1930s, there were big budget science fiction films, notably Just Imagine, King Kong, Things to Come. Starting in 1936, a number of science fiction comic strips were adapted as serials, notably Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers and these serials, and the comic strips they were based on, were very popular with the general public. Other notable science fiction films of the 1930s include Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Doctor X, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, F. P. The 1940s brought us Before I Hang, Black Friday, Dr. Cyclops, The Devil Commands, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Man Made Monster, It Happened Tomorrow, It Happens Every Spring and The Perfect Woman

17.
Star Trek
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Star Trek is an American science fiction media franchise based on the television series created by Gene Roddenberry. The first television series, simply called Star Trek and now referred to as The Original Series, debuted in 1966 and it followed the interstellar adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and his crew aboard the starship USS Enterprise, an exploration vessel. The Star Trek canon of the franchise include The Original Series, a series, four spin-off television series, its film franchise. In creating Star Trek, Roddenberry was inspired by the Horatio Hornblower novels, the satirical book Gullivers Travels and these adventures continued in the short-lived Star Trek, The Animated Series and six feature films. The adventures of The Next Generation crew continued in four feature films. In 2009, the franchise underwent a reboot set in an alternate timeline, or Kelvin Timeline. This film featured a new cast portraying younger versions of the crew from the show, their adventures were continued in the sequel film. The thirteenth film feature and sequel, Star Trek Beyond, was released to coincide with the franchises 50th anniversary, a new Star Trek TV series, titled Star Trek, Discovery, will premiere in May 2017 on the digital platform CBS All Access. Star Trek has been a phenomenon for decades. Fans of the franchise are called Trekkies or Trekkers, the franchise spans a wide range of spin-offs including games, figurines, novels, toys, and comics. Star Trek had an attraction in Las Vegas that opened in 1998. At least two museum exhibits of props travel the world, the series has its own full-fledged constructed language, Klingon. Several parodies have been made of Star Trek, in addition, viewers have produced several fan productions. As of July 2016, the franchise had generated $10 billion in revenue, Star Trek is noted for its cultural influence beyond works of science fiction. The franchise is also noted for its civil rights stances. The Original Series included one of televisions first multiracial casts, Star Trek references can be found throughout popular culture from movies such as the submarine thriller Crimson Tide to the animated series South Park. As early as 1964, Gene Roddenberry drafted a proposal for the series that would become Star Trek

18.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
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Star Trek V, The Final Frontier is a 1989 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the feature film based on Star Trek. The film was directed by cast member William Shatner, following two films directed by his co-star, Leonard Nimoy, Shatner also developed the initial storyline in which Sybok searches for God but instead finds an alien being. The script went through revisions to please the cast and studio. Despite a writers-guild strike cutting into the films pre-production, Paramount commenced filming in October 1988, production problems plagued the film on set and during location shooting in Yosemite National Park and the Mojave Desert. The films ending was reworked because of poor test-audience reaction and the failure of planned special effects, Jerry Goldsmith, composer for Star Trek, The Motion Picture, returned to score The Final Frontier. The Final Frontier was released in North America on June 9,1989 and it had the highest-opening gross of any film in the series at that point and was number one in its first week at the box office, but its grosses quickly dropped in subsequent weeks. The film received mixed to poor reviews by critics on release. The next entry in the series, Star Trek VI, The Undiscovered Country, the crew of the newly commissioned USS Enterprise are enjoying shore leave after the starships shakedown cruise goes poorly. At Yosemite National Park James T. Kirk, recently demoted back to Captain after the events of the two films, is camping with Spock and Dr. Leonard McCoy. Their leave is interrupted when the Enterprise is ordered by Starfleet Command to rescue human, Klingon, learning of the Enterprises mission, the Klingon Captain Klaa decides to pursue Kirk for personal glory. On Nimbus III, the Enterprise crew discovers that renegade Vulcan Sybok, Sybok reveals the hostage situation was a ruse to lure a starship to Nimbus III. Sybok wants to use a ship to reach the mythical planet Sha Ka Ree, the place where creation began, Sybok uses his unique ability to reveal and heal the innermost pain of a person through the mind meld to subvert the wills of the hostages and crew members. Only Spock and Kirk prove resistant to Sybok, Spock is unmoved by the experience and Kirk refuses the Vulcans offer, Sybok reluctantly declares a truce with Kirk, realizing he needs his leadership experience to navigate the Enterprise to Sha Ka Ree. The Enterprise successfully breaches the barrier, pursued by Klaas vessel, Sybok, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy journey to the surface, where Sybok calls out to his perceived vision of God. An entity appears, and when told of how Sybok breached the barrier, when a skeptical Kirk inquires, What does God need with a starship. The entity attacks him in retribution, the others doubt a god who would inflict harm on people for pleasure. Realizing his foolishness, Sybok sacrifices himself in an effort to combat the creature, intent on stopping the being, Kirk orders the Enterprise to fire a photon torpedo at their location, to little effect

19.
Star Trek (film series)
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Reruns of the series proved to be wildly successful in syndication during the 1970s, which persuaded the series then-owner, Paramount Pictures, to expand the franchise. Paramount originally began work on a Star Trek feature film in 1975 after lobbying by the creator of the franchise, the studio scrapped the project two years later in favor of creating a television series, Star Trek, Phase II, with the original cast. Five more films featuring the original cast followed. The cast of the 1987–1994 spin-off series Star Trek, The Next Generation starred in a further four films, a sequel to Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, was released in theaters on May 16,2013. A second sequel, Star Trek Beyond, was released on July 22,2016, the Star Trek films have received 15 Academy Award nominations. Star Trek won for Best Makeup in 2010, and four of the films were nominated mainly in the areas of makeup, music, set design. The early Star Trek films, the first to film, were originally released on VHS. Later films were released on LaserDisc as well. For those films that did not receive an initial DVD release, later, the first ten films were released in two-disc collectors versions, with The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Khan branded as directors cuts, followed by later box set releases. All of the films are now available on Blu-ray, digital download, streaming media, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry first suggested the idea of a Star Trek feature in 1969. When the original series was cancelled, he lobbied to continue the franchise through a film. The success of the series in syndication convinced the studio to work on a feature film in 1975. A series of writers attempted to craft a suitably epic script, Paramount instead planned on returning the franchise to its roots with a new television series, Star Trek, Phase II. The massive worldwide box office success of Star Wars in mid-1977 sent Hollywood studios to their vaults in search of similar properties that could be adapted or re-launched to the big screen. Principal photography for Star Trek, The Motion Picture commenced August 7,1978 with director Robert Wise helming the feature, the production encountered difficulties and slipped behind schedule, with effects team Robert Abel and Associates proving unable to handle the films large amount of effects work. Douglas Trumbull was hired and given a check to complete the effects work in time and location. The film introduced an upgrade to the technology and starship designs, many of the set elements created for Phase II were adapted and enhanced for use in the first feature films. The film received mixed reviews critics, while it grossed $82,258,456

20.
United Federation of Planets
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The Federation was first introduced in the 1966–1969 television show Star Trek as the organization that sent the starship USS Enterprise on its mission of peaceful exploration. As the Federation has continued to explore the galaxy and expanded its membership, it has been challenged by hostile alien civilizations such as the Borg. The survival, success, and growth of the Federation and its principles of freedom have become some of the Star Trek franchises central themes, the Federation was originally conceived as an idealized version of the United Nations. The Federation has been well received by critics and fans, becoming one of the most enduring storylines. As part of the message he wanted the show to convey, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry intended to depict the Federation as an ideal. The social structure within the Federation is classless and operates within a money-less New World Economy, the Federation is described as stressing, at least nominally, the values of universal liberty, equality, justice, peace, and cooperation. The Federation also maintains its own quasi-militaristic and scientific exploratory agency, the television series and films depict Earth and humanity as holding a center-stage political role within the Federation, in some ways first among equals. The legislature, the Federation Council, is located at the Presidio of San Francisco, several other bodies of the Federation have been depicted. There is an executive headed by a Federation President, who keeps offices in the Palais de la Concorde in Paris. There is a branch as well, the highest court of which is the Federation Supreme Court. The Federations scientific, diplomatic and defensive/military arm is Starfleet, depicted as being headquartered at Fort Baker, just north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge. The Federation comes into conflict with other major powers in the galaxy such as the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire, the Cardassian Union, the Borg. The United Federation of Planets has existed as part of the Star Trek universe since the first season of the series and is the primary focus of all the Star Trek series. Several episodes of Star Trek, Enterprise follow events leading up the creation of the Federation, the formation of the Coalition seems to have been the event that provoked the xenophobic Terra Prime incident in the episodes Demons and Terra Prime. After Terra Prime leader John Frederick Paxton exploited the xenophobia on Earth, many of the aliens were unnerved, however, they were convinced by a speech from Captain Jonathan Archer to give the idea of a united organization of worlds a chance. Six years later in 2161, the United Federation of Planets was organized, the Federation is founded under a document known as the Charter of the United Federation of Planets October 9,2161, which is occasionally referred to informally as the Constitution. It draws text and inspiration from the United Nations Charter and other sources and this is intended to prevent even well-intentioned Federation personnel from introducing changes which could destabilize or even destroy other pre-warp-era cultures through interference. Starfleets Omega Directive supersedes the Prime Directive allowing for any means possible to destroy the Omega particle if encountered and it includes a set of guarantees of civil rights, the Seventh Guarantee being analogous to the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and its protection against self-incrimination

21.
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)
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USS Enterprise is a starship in the fourth, fifth, sixth films of the Roddenberry era and later in the alternative timeline film Star Trek Beyond. Enterprise-A used the shooting model as the preceding NCC-1701. When first unveiled in the sequences of Star Trek IV, The Voyage Home. On October 5–7,2006, Christies auctioned off many of the used in the Star Trek films. In that auction the model of Enterprise-A used for the films was sold for $240,000, the Constitution-class starship Enterprise-A was commissioned in 2286, at the end of the events depicted in Star Trek IV, The Voyage Home. It is the second Federation starship to carry the name Enterprise, the ship is placed under the command of newly demoted Captain James T. Kirk as punishment for his and his crews actions in the rescue of Captain Spock in Star Trek III and it replaces the original Enterprise, destroyed in Star Trek III. In Star Trek V, The Final Frontier, the ship is dispatched to rescue hostages on Nimbus III. The Vulcan renegade Sybok and his followers hijack the ship and take it to a planet at the center of the galaxy, several novels and comics explore the six-year period between the fifth and sixth films. In Star Trek VI, The Undiscovered Country, Enterprise escorts Klingon chancellor Gorkon to a summit on Earth. The renegade Klingon general Chang, assisted by traitors aboard Enterprise, the Klingons take Kirk and Leonard McCoy prisoner, Spock and Enterprise crew disregard Starfleet orders and instead rescue Kirk and McCoy. Enterprise encounters and, with aid from USS Excelsior, destroys Changs ship, the film concludes with Starfleet ordering a return to Spacedock to be decommissioned, an order which Kirk and the crew gleefully disregard. There is no information about the ships fate beyond Star Trek VI. In the epilogue of Star Trek VI, The Undiscovered Country, however, she may have been speaking only of the ships original crew members as Captain James T. Documentation provided with the Bandai model states that the ship was displayed in the Starfleet Museum at Memory Alpha, ultimately, Enterprise is destroyed to prevent Drakes completion of a disastrous personal agenda. Enterprise was already under construction at the time of its predecessors arrival at Star base Yorktown, following the destruction of its predecessor, its crew was reassigned to the NCC-1701-A after its completion. A new design for Enterprise NCC-1701-A appears in Star Trek Beyond, USS Enterprise at Memory Alpha USS Enterprise at Memory Alpha

22.
Starfleet Academy
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In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet Academy is where recruits to Starfleets officer corps are trained. It was created in the year 2161, when the United Federation of Planets was founded, the Academys motto is Ex astris, scientia – From the stars, knowledge. This is derived from the Apollo 13 motto Ex luna, scientia – From the moon, in turn, the Apollo 13 motto was inspired by Ex scientia, tridens, the motto of the United States Naval Academy, meaning From knowledge, seapower. There are also campuses, for example, Tom Paris studied at a campus in Marseille. It was created, based upon principles first postulated by David H. Longstreet, the Star Trek, The Next Generation episode Coming of Age revolved around Wesley Crushers first attempt to enter Starfleet Academy, and includes many details of the Academys entrance exam. Admitted students undergo a program of academics and training, after which they are typically commissioned as ensigns. One of the groundskeepers of the Academy is a man called Boothby, Boothby has offered advice to, and taken interest in the careers of many students, including Jean-Luc Picard and Kathryn Janeway, both later captains. Non-Federation citizens must present a letter of recommendation from an officer in Starfleet before they can take the entrance examination. Commander Benjamin Sisko wrote such a letter for Nog in 2371 when he applied for Starfleet in the Star Trek, given Reeds history with the still extant British Royal Navy, however, one assumes that Dartmouth and comparable officer training institutions were as yet separate entities. In 1997, a game with a story surrounding the Academy, called Star Trek, Starfleet Academy, was released by Interplay. A television series based on Starfleet Academy was proposed, but never produced, an early draft of the script to Star Trek VI, The Undiscovered Country featured a flashback to Captain Kirks time at the academy. According to producer Harve Bennett, that version of the film got as far as preliminary casting, allegedly with offers made to Ethan Hawke for the role of Captain Kirk. The Japanese Garden, located on the grounds of the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys, in 2009, the exterior of Oviatt Library at California State University, Northridge was used to depict Starfleet Academy in J. J. Abrams Star Trek feature film. Starfleet Medical Academy is responsible for training Starfleet Medical personnel and it accepts only 200 students each year. It is one of several sub-campuses in the Academy system, list of fictional military schools and academies Starfleet Academy at Memory Alpha

23.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
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Star Trek II, The Wrath of Khan is a 1982 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the film based on Star Trek, and is a sequel to Star Trek. The plot features Admiral James T, when Khan escapes from a 15-year exile to exact revenge on Kirk, the crew of the Enterprise must stop him from acquiring a powerful terraforming device named Genesis. This film is the beginning of an arc that continues with the 1984 film Star Trek III, The Search for Spock and concludes with 1986s Star Trek IV. After the lackluster critical and commercial response to The Motion Picture, executive producer Harve Bennett wrote the films original outline, which Jack B. Sowards developed into a full script, director Nicholas Meyer completed the final script in 12 days, without accepting a writing credit. Meyers approach evoked the atmosphere of the original series. Nimoy had not intended to have a role in The Motion Pictures sequel, negative test audience reaction to Spocks death led to significant revisions of the ending over Meyers objections. The production used various cost-cutting techniques to keep within budget, including utilizing miniatures from past projects and re-using sets, effects footage, among the films technical achievements is it being the first feature film to contain a complete sequence created entirely with computer-generated graphics. The Wrath of Khan was released in North America on June 4,1982 and it was a box office success, earning US$97 million worldwide and setting a world record for first-day box office gross. Critical reaction to the film was positive, reviewers highlighted Khan, the pacing. Negative reaction focused on special effects and some of the acting. The Wrath of Khan is considered by some to be the best film of the Star Trek series, in the year 2285, Admiral James T. Kirk oversees a simulator session of Captain Spocks trainees, in the simulation, Lieutenant Saavik commands the starship USS Enterprise on a rescue mission to save the crew of the damaged ship Kobayashi Maru. When the Enterprise enters the Klingon Neutral Zone to reach the ship it is attacked by Klingon cruisers, the simulation is a no-win scenario designed to test the character of Starfleet officers. Later, Dr. McCoy joins Kirk on his birthday, seeing Kirk in low spirits, meanwhile, the USS Reliant is on a mission to search for a lifeless planet for testing of the Genesis Device, a technology designed to reorganize matter to create habitable worlds for colonization. 15 years prior, the Enterprise discovered Khans ship adrift in space, Kirk exiled Khan, after they were marooned, Ceti Alpha VI exploded, shifting the orbit of Ceti Alpha V and destroying its ecosystem. Khan blames Kirk for the death of his wife and plans revenge and he implants Chekov and Terrell with indigenous creatures that enter the ears of their victims and render them susceptible to mind control, and uses the officers to capture the Reliant

24.
Berlin Wall
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The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Its demolition officially began on 13 June 1990 and was completed in 1992, the barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area that contained anti-vehicle trenches, fakir beds and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the Wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the will of the people in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that had marked East Germany, the West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the Wall of Shame—a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt—while condemning the Walls restriction on freedom of movement. Between 1961 and 1989, the Wall prevented almost all such emigration, during this period, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the Wall, with an estimated death toll ranging from 136 to more than 200 in and around Berlin. After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany, crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the Wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, euphoric people and souvenir hunters chipped away parts of the Wall, contrary to popular belief the Walls actual demolition did not begin until the summer of 1990 and was not completed until 1992. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, the capital of Berlin, as the seat of the Allied Control Council, was similarly subdivided into four sectors despite the citys location, which was fully within the Soviet zone. Within two years, political divisions increased between the Soviets and the occupying powers. Property and industry was nationalized in the East German zone, if statements or decisions deviated from the described line, reprimands and punishment would ensue, such as imprisonment, torture and even death. Indoctrination of Marxism-Leninism became a part of school curricula, sending professors. The East Germans created a political police apparatus that kept the population under close surveillance. In 1948, following disagreements regarding reconstruction and a new German currency, Stalin instituted the Berlin Blockade, preventing food, materials and supplies from arriving in West Berlin. The United States, Britain, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several countries began a massive airlift, supplying West Berlin with food. The Soviets mounted a public campaign against the Western policy change. Communists attempted to disrupt the elections of 1948, preceding large losses therein, in May 1949, Stalin lifted the blockade, permitting the resumption of Western shipments to Berlin. The German Democratic Republic was declared on 7 October 1949, by a secret treaty, the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs accorded the East German state administrative authority, but not autonomy. The Soviets permeated East German administrative, military and secret police structures and had full control, East Germany differed from West Germany, which developed into a Western capitalist country with a social market economy and a democratic parliamentary government

25.
Cold War
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The Cold War was a state of geopolitical tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc and powers in the Western Bloc. Historians do not fully agree on the dates, but a common timeframe is the period between 1947, the year the Truman Doctrine was announced, and 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed. The term cold is used there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides, although there were major regional wars, known as proxy wars, supported by the two sides. The Cold War split the temporary alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the Soviet Union. The USSR was a Marxist–Leninist state ruled by its Communist Party and secret police, the Party controlled the press, the military, the economy and all organizations. In opposition stood the West, dominantly democratic and capitalist with a free press, a small neutral bloc arose with the Non-Aligned Movement, it sought good relations with both sides. The two superpowers never engaged directly in full-scale armed combat, but they were armed in preparation for a possible all-out nuclear world war. The first phase of the Cold War began in the first two years after the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Berlin Blockade was the first major crisis of the Cold War. With the victory of the communist side in the Chinese Civil War and the outbreak of the Korean War, the USSR and USA competed for influence in Latin America, and the decolonizing states of Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was stopped by the Soviets, the expansion and escalation sparked more crises, such as the Suez Crisis, the Berlin Crisis of 1961, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The USSR crushed the 1968 Prague Spring liberalization program in Czechoslovakia, détente collapsed at the end of the decade with the beginning of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979. The early 1980s were another period of elevated tension, with the Soviet downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, the United States increased diplomatic, military, and economic pressures on the Soviet Union, at a time when the communist state was already suffering from economic stagnation. In the mid-1980s, the new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the reforms of perestroika and glasnost. Pressures for national independence grew stronger in Eastern Europe, especially Poland, Gorbachev meanwhile refused to use Soviet troops to bolster the faltering Warsaw Pact regimes as had occurred in the past. The result in 1989 was a wave of revolutions that peacefully overthrew all of the communist regimes of Central, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union itself lost control and was banned following an abortive coup attempt in August 1991. This in turn led to the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991. The United States remained as the only superpower. The Cold War and its events have left a significant legacy and it is often referred to in popular culture, especially in media featuring themes of espionage and the threat of nuclear warfare

26.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
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Star Trek, The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series in the Star Trek franchise created by Gene Roddenberry that ran between 1987 and 1994. Roddenberry, Maurice Hurley, Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor served as producers at different times throughout its production. The series involves a starship named Enterprise and is set in the regions of the Milky Way galaxy. The first episode takes place in the year 2364,100 years after the start of the mission described in the original series. It features a new cast and a new starship Enterprise, the fifth to bear the name within the franchises storyline and these are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission, to strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations. TNG premiered the week of September 28,1987, drawing 27 million viewers, in total,176 episodes were made, ending with the two-hour finale All Good Things. The week of May 23,1994, the series was broadcast in first-run syndication with dates and times varying among individual television stations. Three additional Star Trek spin-offs followed The Next Generation, Star Trek, Deep Space Nine, Star Trek, Voyager, and Star Trek, Enterprise. The series formed the basis for the seventh through to the tenth of the Star Trek films, and is also the setting of novels, comic books. In its seventh season, Star Trek, The Next Generation became the first, the series received a number of accolades including 19 Emmy Awards, two Hugo Awards, five Saturn Awards, and a Peabody Award. The series follows the adventures of a crew on board the starship USS Enterprise, the fifth Federation vessel to bear the name and registry. The series is set about 70 years after the mission of the original Enterprise crew under the command of James T. Kirk. Beverly Crusher, conn officer Lieutenant Geordi La Forge, and junior officer Lieutenant Worf, the death of Lieutenant Yar in the series first season prompts an internal shuffle of personnel, making Worf official chief of security. Geordi La Forge is promoted to engineer at the beginning of season 2. The series begins with the crew of the Enterprise-D put on trial by a nefarious, the god-like entity threatens the extinction of mankind for being a race of savages, forcing them to solve a mystery at nearby Farpoint Station to prove their worthiness to be spared. After successfully solving the mystery and avoiding disaster, the crew departs on its mission to explore strange new worlds. Subsequent stories focus on the discovery of new life and sociological and political relationships with alien cultures, several new species are introduced as recurring antagonists, including the Ferengi, the Cardassian, and the Borg

27.
Academy Awards
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze

28.
Klingon
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The Klingons are a fictional extraterrestrial humanoid warrior species in the science fiction franchise Star Trek. Klingons are recurring antagonists in the 1960s television series Star Trek, The Original Series, initially intended to be antagonists for the crew of the USS Enterprise, the Klingons became a close ally of humanity and the United Federation of Planets in Star Trek, The Next Generation. In the 1990s series Star Trek, Deep Space Nine, the United Federation of Planets briefly goes to war with the Klingons, later in that series, the two join together with the Romulans to fight the Dominion. As originally developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon, Klingons were swarthy humanoids characterized mainly by prideful ruthlessness, totalitarian, and with a martial society relying on slave labor, they reflected analogies with both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Although Cold War tensions are apparent in the characterization, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry did not intend any explicit political parallels, among the elements created for the revised Klingons was a complete Klingon language, developed by Marc Okrand from gibberish suggested by actor James Doohan. Spoken Klingon has entered popular culture, even to the extent that the works of William Shakespeare, a dictionary, a book of sayings, and a cultural guide to the language have been published. According to Guinness World Records, Klingon is the worlds most popular language as measured by number of speakers. The Klingons were created by screenwriter Gene L. Coon, and they were named after Lieutenant Wilbur Clingan, who served with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry in the Los Angeles Police Department. In the original series, Klingons were typically portrayed with bronze skin and facial hair suggestive of Asian people. The swarthy look of Klingon males was created with the application of shoe polish and long, thin moustaches, the overall look of the aliens, played by white actors, suggested orientalism, at a time when memories of Japanese actions during World War II were still fresh. The production crew never came to an agreement on the name Klingon, Coon was adamant about keeping the name, the Klingons took on the role of the Soviet Union in opposition to the United Federation of Planets playing the role of the United States. As such, they were portrayed as inferior to the crew of the Enterprise. While occasionally capable of honour, this depiction treated the Klingons as close to wild animals, overall, they were shown without redeeming qualities—brutish, scheming, and murderous. Klingons became the primary antagonists of the Enterprise crew, in part because the necessary to make Romulans was too time-consuming. For the first two seasons, no Klingon ships were seen despite being frequently mentioned and this was because of budget constraints— designer Matt Jefferies did not have the money to create a Klingon ship until the third season. When the episodes were remastered beginning in 2006, Klingon ships were digitally inserted into shots earlier than their original appearances, for Star Trek, The Motion Picture, the Klingons were retconned and their appearance and behavior radically changed. To give the aliens a more sophisticated and threatening demeanor, the Klingons were depicted with ridged foreheads, snaggled and prominent teeth, and a defined language and alphabet. Lee Cole, a designer, used red gels and primitive shapes in the design of Klingon consoles and ship interiors

29.
USS Excelsior (Star Trek)
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This is a list of the fictional Star Trek universes Starfleet ships organized by ship class. Many of the names, classes, or registry numbers are not identified on screen. This listing does not include ships mentioned in fan fiction related to Star Trek, Named for Greek mythological figure and nearby Andromeda galaxy. Named for the ancient Greek solar deity and the American Apollo program, scout ship introduced in the Star Trek, The Original Series tie-in novel series Star Trek, Vanguard and its follow-up Star Trek, Seekers. Retroactively named after Captain Jonathan Archer Star Trek, Enterprise, name honors science fiction author Ray Bradbury. Also referred to as Enterprise class in Shane Johnsons non-canonical work Mr. Scotts Guide to the Enterprise, class named for an iconic figure from Greek mythology. Presumably named for the Polynesian waʻa kaulua replica Named for spacecraft designer Sergey Korolyov, featured in the Star Trek, Titan novels. Named for character in play The Tempest by William Shakespeare, name denotes astronomical phenomenon and pays tribute to the Nebula Award for science fiction writing. Named for the City of New Orleans, ships are named for the NASA Space Shuttle orbiters Named after the rocket scientist Hermann Oberth. This class is sometimes erroneously named Hope class from a version of the dedication plaque from the USS Pasteur. Named for the Soviet spacecraft Named for Vulcan philosopher Surak, introduced in Star Trek, Destiny and first visualized in Star Trek Online. Named in honor of science fiction author H. G. Wells

30.
Hikaru Sulu
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Hikaru Kato Sulu is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. Originally known simply as Sulu, he was portrayed by George Takei in the original Star Trek series. Sulu also appears in the animated Star Trek series, the first six Star Trek movies, one episode of Star Trek, Voyager, and in books, comics. Sulus first name, Hikaru, appeared in a 1981 novel well over a decade after the series had ended. John Cho assumed the role of the character in both the 2009 film Star Trek and its sequels, Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond. Takei recalled Gene Roddenberry wanted the character to represent all of Asia, Roddenberry did not want a nationally specific surname, so he looked at a map and saw the Sulu Sea. He thought, Ah, the waters of that sea touch all shores, the actor recalled, historically, Sulu was a Muslim sultanate founded in 1405 until March 1915 when the Sultan abdicated when it had become part of the United States. The island province of Sulu continued to be a US territory until 1946, in the book Inside Star Trek, The Real Story, the characters name is noted as a pun on the name of vice president of Desilu Studios, Herb Solow. Novelist Vonda McIntyre first presents Hikaru as the characters first name in the novel The Entropy Effect, McIntyre derived the characters first name from The Tale of Genji. In some Japanese dubs, Commander Sulus family name is changed to Kato and this is because there is no lu syllable in Japanese, so to Japanese speakers Sulu does not sound like a Japanese name. However, in recent movies, it is slightly changed. The name スールー, is used as opposed to スル, which would be a closer transliteration, suru with short vowels in Japanese is the verb to do, and as such might also come across as odd to Japanese audiences. The fictional character Hikaru Sulu was born in San Francisco, and is of Japanese heritage and he was shown as the USS Enterprises staff physicist in the pilot episode, Where No Man Has Gone Before. An early Paramount press release described this initial conception of his character as follows, Physicist Sulu is the trim, frequently it is his assessment of the conditions on unexplored planets that finally determines when and how they will be approached, or if they can be explored at all. However, throughout the rest of the series, he served as officer and senior helmsman. Throughout the series, Sulu is shown having many interests and hobbies, including gymnastics, botany, fencing, in the episode The Naked Time, Spock observes that Sulu is at heart a swashbuckler out of the 18th century. The character is promoted to lieutenant commander some time before Star Trek, The Motion Picture, during the first five Star Trek movies, he serves as helmsman aboard both the USS Enterprise and USS Enterprise-A. He is promoted to captain and given command of the USS Excelsior three years before the events of Star Trek VI, The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek Generations introduces Hikarus daughter, Demora Sulu, whose origins are also depicted in Peter Davids non-canon novel The Captains Daughter

31.
Ozone layer
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The ozone layer or ozone shield is a region of Earths stratosphere that absorbs most of the Suns ultraviolet radiation. It contains high concentrations of ozone in relation to parts of the atmosphere. The ozone layer contains less than 10 parts per million of ozone, the ozone layer is mainly found in the lower portion of the stratosphere, from approximately 20 to 30 kilometres above Earth, although its thickness varies seasonally and geographically. The ozone layer was discovered in 1913 by the French physicists Charles Fabry and it was deduced that the missing radiation was being absorbed by something in the atmosphere. Eventually the spectrum of the radiation was matched to only one known chemical. Its properties were explored in detail by the British meteorologist G. M. B, Dobson, who developed a simple spectrophotometer that could be used to measure stratospheric ozone from the ground. Between 1928 and 1958, Dobson established a network of ozone monitoring stations. The Dobson unit, a convenient measure of the amount of overhead, is named in his honor. The ozone layer absorbs 97 to 99 percent of the Suns medium-frequency ultraviolet light, the United Nations General Assembly has designated September 16 as the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. Venus also has an ozone layer at an altitude of 100 kilometers from the planets surface. The photochemical mechanisms that give rise to the layer were discovered by the British physicist Sydney Chapman in 1930. The ozone molecule is unstable and when light hits ozone it splits into a molecule of O2 and an individual atom of oxygen. Chemically, this can be described as, O2 + ℎνuv → 2O O + O2 ↔ O3 About 90 percent of the ozone in the atmosphere is contained in the stratosphere. Ozone concentrations are greatest between about 20 and 40 kilometres, where they range from about 2 to 8 parts per million, if all of the ozone were compressed to the pressure of the air at sea level, it would be only 3 millimetres thick. Although the concentration of the ozone in the layer is very small. Extremely short or vacuum UV is screened out by nitrogen, UV radiation capable of penetrating nitrogen is divided into three categories, based on its wavelength, these are referred to as UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C. UV-C, which is harmful to all living things, is entirely screened out by a combination of dioxygen. Nevertheless, some UV-B, particularly at its longest wavelengths, reaches the surface, Ozone is transparent to most UV-A, so most of this longer-wavelength UV radiation reaches the surface, and it constitutes most of the UV reaching the Earth

32.
Starfleet
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Starfleet is a fictional organization in the Star Trek media franchise. While the majority of Starfleets members are human and it is headquartered on Earth, hundreds of species are also represented. During production of episodes of the original series, several details of the makeup of the Star Trek universe had yet to be worked out. However, references to the United Earth Space Probe Agency, for example, the Friendship One probe is marked with the letters UESPA-1 in the Star Trek, Voyager episode Friendship One. Other background props included additional UESPA references, such as Captain Jean-Luc Picards family album in Star Trek Generations, during the production of Star Trek, Enterprise, some larger Starfleet insignia designs included the name United Earth Space Probe Agency. However, the Starfleet that is in existence before the Federation is a different organization than that of the Federation Starfleet, Starfleet acts under a Prime Directive of non-interference with developing worlds or their internal politics. The Prime Directive and Starfleets first-contact policies are at the center of several episodes in each Star Trek series, Starfleet Headquarters is shown to be located on Earth, northeast of the Golden Gate Bridge in the present-day Fort Baker area. Starfleet Academy is located in the general area. Additionally, various episodes show Starfleet operating a series of starbases throughout Federation territory, as ground facilities, the flagship of Starfleet is often considered to be the starship USS Enterprise. Starfleet has many components, including the following, As early as the original Star Trek, later series establish it as an officer training facility with a four-year educational program. The main campus is located near Starfleet Headquarters in what is now Fort Baker, Starfleet Command is the headquarters/command center of Starfleet. The term Starfleet Command is first used in TOS episode Court Martial and its headquarters are depicted as being in Fort Baker, across the Golden Gate from San Francisco, in Star Trek, The Motion Picture and Star Trek IV, The Voyage Home. Overlooking the Command from the side of the Golden Gate is the permanent site of the Council of the United Federation of Planets in what is now the Presidio of San Francisco. StarTrek. com notes that many of Starfleets ships are built on Mare Island near San Francisco, the Enterprise-D and USS Voyager are depicted to have been constructed at a shipyard named Utopia Planitia in Mars orbit. The Utopia Planitia served as Starfleets main ship yards throughout a portion of Starfleets existence. After the Enterprise-D encountered the Borg in the episode Q Who the size of the Utopia Planitia shipyards was doubled out of fear of a Borg strike and they were once again doubled after the Dominion threat became more evident. In the 2013 sequel, Montgomery Scotty Scott discovers a covert Starfleet facility, near Jupiter, as one minion of the Dominion in the Star Trek, DS9 episode, Rocks and Shoals notes, Starfleet engineers are reputed to be able to Turn rocks into replicators. Additionally, Pocket Books has published a series of eBooks and novels in the Starfleet Corps of Engineers series, Starfleet Intelligence is an intelligence agency of the United Federation of Planets

33.
James T. Kirk
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James Tiberius Jim Kirk is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. Kirk first appears in Star Trek, The Original Series and has portrayed in numerous films, books, comics, webisodes. As the captain of the starship USS Enterprise, Kirk leads his crew as they explore where no man has gone before, often, the characters of Spock and Leonard McCoy act as his logical and emotional sounding boards, respectively. Kirk, played by William Shatner, first appears in the broadcast pilot episode, The Man Trap, Shatner continued in the role for the shows three seasons, and later provided the voice of the animated version of Kirk in Star Trek, The Animated Series. Shatner returned to the role for Star Trek, The Motion Picture, chris Pine portrays a young version of the character in the 2009 reboot Star Trek film, with Jimmy Bennett playing Kirk as a child. Pine reprised his role in Star Trek Into Darkness and in Star Trek Beyond, other actors have played the character in fan-created media, and the character has been the subject of multiple spoofs and satires. The character has been praised for his leadership traits and criticized for his relationships with women, James Tiberius Kirk was born in Riverside, Iowa, where he was raised by his parents, George and Winona Kirk. Although born on Earth, Kirk lived for a time on Tarsus IV, James Kirks brother, George Samuel Kirk, is first mentioned in What Are Little Girls Made Of. and introduced and killed in Operation, Annihilate. Kirk was granted a commission as an ensign and posted to advanced training aboard the USS Republic. He was then promoted to lieutenant junior grade and returned to Starfleet Academy as a student instructor, students could either think or sink in his class, and Kirk himself was a stack of books with legs. Upon graduating in the top five percent, Kirk was promoted to lieutenant and he received his first command, a spaceship roughly equivalent to a destroyer, while still quite young. Kirk became Starfleets youngest captain after receiving command of the USS Enterprise for a five-year mission, Kirks most significant relationships in the television series are with first officer Spock and chief medical officer Dr. Leonard Bones McCoy. McCoy is someone to whom Kirk unburdens himself and is a foil to Spock, robert Jewett and John Shelton Lawrences The Myth of the American Superhero describes Kirk as a hard-driving leader who pushes himself and his crew beyond human limits. Terry J. Erdman and Paula M, although Kirk throughout the series becomes romantically involved with various women, when confronted with a choice between a woman and the Enterprise, his ship always won. Roddenberry wrote in a memo that Kirk is not afraid of being fallible. J. M. Dillards novel The Lost Years describes Kirks promotion to rear admiral, in Star Trek, The Motion Picture, Kirk is chief of Starfleet operations, and he takes command of the Enterprise from Captain Willard Decker. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberrys novelization of The Motion Picture depicts Kirk married to a Starfleet officer killed during a transporter accident. At the beginning of Star Trek II, The Wrath of Khan, Kirk takes command of the Enterprise from Captain Spock to pursue his enemy from Space Seed, the movie introduces Kirks son, David Marcus

34.
Artificial gravity
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Artificial gravity is an acceleration resulting from the application of a force. In the context of manned spaceflight, artificial gravity may alleviate the adverse effects of prolonged weightlessness. Astronauts routinely experience intermittent linear accelerations caused by the force of a rocket engine, however, the term artificial gravity usually refers to a sustained normal force provided by a rigid structure in uniform circular motion. Artificial gravity is an example of a centripetal force, a centripetal force directed towards the center of the turn is required for any object to move in a circular path. In the context of a space station it is the spacecrafts hull that provides the necessary centripetal force. Thus, the gravity felt by an object is simply the normal force produced by the hull pushing on the object. In accordance with Newtons Second Law the value of little g created artificially is equal to the centripetal acceleration, for a given angular velocity the amount of artificial gravity depends linearly on the radius. With a small radius of rotation, the amount of gravity felt at ones head would be different from the amount felt at ones feet. This could make movement and changing body position awkward, in accordance with the physics involved, slower rotations or larger rotational radii would reduce or eliminate this problem. Similarly the angular velocity of the habitat should be higher than the relative velocities with which an astronaut will change position within it. Otherwise moving in the direction of the rotation will increase the felt gravity to the point that it should cause problems, the Coriolis effect gives an apparent force that acts on objects that move relative to a rotating reference frame. This apparent force acts at right angles to the motion and the rotation axis and these forces act on the inner ear and can cause dizziness, nausea and disorientation. Lengthening the period of rotation reduces the Coriolis force and its effects and it is generally believed that at 2 rpm or less, no adverse effects from the Coriolis forces will occur, although humans have been shown to adapt to rates as high as 23 rpm. It is not yet known if very long exposures to high levels of Coriolis forces can increase the likelihood of becoming accustomed, the nausea-inducing effects of Coriolis forces can also be mitigated by restraining movement of the head. This form of artificial gravity gives additional system issues, Kinetic energy and angular momentum, extra strength is needed in the structure to keep it from flying apart because of the rotation. However, the amount of structure needed over and above that to hold an atmosphere is relatively modest for most structures. A traversable interface between parts of the station spinning relative to each other requires large vacuum-tight axial seals, the engineering challenges of creating a rotating spacecraft are comparatively modest to any other proposed approach. Theoretical spacecraft designs using artificial gravity have a number of variants with intrinsic problems

35.
Leonard McCoy
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Bones McCoy is a character in the American science fiction franchise Star Trek. Karl Urban assumed the role of the character in the 2009 film Star Trek, McCoy was born in Atlanta, Georgia, January 20,2227. In 2266, McCoy was posted as chief officer of the USS Enterprise under Captain James T. Kirk. McCoy and Kirk are good friends, even brotherly, the passionate, sometimes cantankerous McCoy frequently argues with Kirks other confidant, science officer Spock, and occasionally is bigoted toward Spocks Vulcan heritage. McCoy often plays the role of Kirks conscience, offering a counterpoint to Spocks logic, McCoy is suspicious of technology, especially the transporter. As a physician, he prefers less intrusive treatment and believes in the bodys innate recuperative powers, the characters nickname, Bones, is a play on sawbones, an epithet for physicians qualified as surgeons. Kirk orders McCoys commission reactivated in Star Trek, The Motion Picture, Spock transfers his katra—his knowledge and experience—into McCoy before dying in Star Trek II, The Wrath of Khan. This causes mental anguish for McCoy, who in Star Trek III, McCoy Kirks crew aboard the in Star Trek IV, The Voyage Home. In Star Trek V, The Final Frontier, McCoy reveals that he helped his father commit suicide to him of his pain. Shortly after the suicide, a cure was found for his fathers disease, Kelley reprised the role for the Encounter at Farpoint pilot episode of Star Trek, The Next Generation, insisting upon no more than the minimum Screen Actors Guild payment for his appearance. In the Star Trek, The Animated Series episode The Survivor, McCoy mentions he has a daughter, chekovs friend Irina in the original series episode The Way to Eden was originally written as McCoys daughter, but changed before the episode was shot. This line, improvised by Urban, explains how McCoy earned the nickname Bones, McCoy later helps get Kirk posted aboard the USS Enterprise. Kelley had worked with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry on previous television pilots, however, for the rejected pilot The Cage, Roddenberry went with director Robert Butlers choice of John Hoyt to play Dr. Philip Boyce. For the second pilot, Where No Man Has Gone Before, although Roddenberry wanted Kelley to play the character of ships doctor, he did not put Kelleys name forward to NBC, the network never rejected the actor as Roddenberry sometimes suggested. Kelleys first broadcast appearance as Doctor Leonard McCoy was in The Man Trap, Kelley was apprehensive about Star Treks future, telling Roddenberry that the show was going to be the biggest hit or the biggest miss God ever made. Kelley portrayed McCoy throughout the original Star Trek series and voiced the character in the animated Star Trek, fontana said that while Roddenberry created the series, Kelley essentially created McCoy, everything done with the character was done with Kelleys input. Exquisite chemistry among Kelley, William Shatner, and Leonard Nimoy manifested itself in their performances as McCoy, Kirk and science officer Spock, respectively. For the 2009 film Star Trek, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman saw McCoy as an arbiter in Kirk and they chose to reveal that McCoy befriended Kirk first, explaining the bias in their friendship and why he would often be a little dismissive of Spock

Science fiction film (or sci-fi) is a genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that …

Metropolis (1927) by Fritz Lang was one of the first feature length science fiction films in history. It was produced at Studio Babelsberg, Germany. (Photo shows the statue of the film figure Maria at Filmpark Babelsberg)

2001: A Space Odyssey, the landmark 1968 collaboration between filmmaker Stanley Kubrick and classic science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke featured groundbreaking special effects, such as the realization of the space ship Discovery One (pictured here)